Crucial meeting awaits as Abate’s Milan deal nears expiry – the situation

Ignazio Abate is about to conclude his third season as a head coach in the AC Milan Youth Sector, and the club will soon have to make a decision on the path they see for him.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport write, the goal of any coach – at any level and age group – is to improve the sporting results of his team compared to the previous season. It means growth, and is the primary asset that a coach must deliver to the club.

As mentioned, Abate is about to conclude his third year as a head coach at Milan and that growth has been constant: Scudetto finals with the Allievi Nazionale in 2021-22, Youth League semi-finals with the Primavera in 2022-23 and the final this year, while play-offs in the league are also in reach.

His promotion from the U16 to the Primavera – with all the importance and delicacy that the context brings with it from a first team perspective – after just one year is clear proof of the quality of his work and obvious esteem from the club.

The right background

Abate is 37 years of age which means he is still programmed as a football player in some way, and this helps him manage the younger players who are living a complicated age in sport.

The management also like Abate because in addition to working hard, he works well. Then there is the fact that he is a true AC Milan fan, raised at Vismara and Milanello, with a long playing career behind him.

Now, however, a crossroads is coming, one which arises regardless of the virtuosity of his journey as a coach with the Rossoneri: is contract will expire in June and we will need to understand which direction to take.

At first glance it might all seem rather obvious: let’s continue like this, given that everything is going very well. Upon closer inspection, however, the answer is more complicated.