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00:00 The air of Ariedo is good air. Always sparkling, as in those years between 1988 and 1995, when Milan was not only a smelting ground of talents, but also a prodigious school ship.
00:14 For leaders, employees, a dream car room, the immobile engine of trophies and competitiveness.
00:21 Years go by, but Ariedo Braida does not. The air of Ariedo, with its ties and its smiles, with its eyes pointed at the concepts that fly high, artistic and inspired, is an air always the same as that of the years of Viaturati, when Viaturati was Caputmundi, the center of Europe, the navel of Italian football.
00:39 You entered the red-black seat of Viaturati and perceived all the power of Milan, the strength of Milan, the energy of Milan, but also the warmth of the big family, united to the efficiency of the big company.
00:53 And to the warmth of the big family he thought, Ariedo Braida. Entrance in Viaturati, first door on the right, the living room that leads to the offices of the leaders, and at a certain point he comes out, Ariedo, with open arms, happy and noisy, whether he won or lost or tied.
01:11 Of course, Ariedo's embrace and many smiles, many jokes, and then we talk about football, trying to get into the merit, trying to understand the nuances, the details. It was Ariedo Braida, it was the Milan of the goodness, it was the Milan champion of Italy, of Europe and the world.
01:26 Many things in his chemistry have not changed, even many years later, even in 2023, even in 2024, even in the years to come. When you see Ariedo Braida, it always seems to take that climate, those years, as if they were crystallized.
01:40 Years of football on the market, years of football under the track, discoveries, talents, golden balls, that Ariedo still today has the simplicity of telling as if it were the first time, that still today has the sensitivity of telling in all its details, going back to what he has already lived and following new ones, details, details, nuances.
02:00 Let's do it then, this journey, in the words of Ariedo, in the air of Ariedo, between a drop of Giorgio Ea and a waterfall of Andriy Shevchenko.
02:08 Direct questions and answers, from Ariedo Braida and to Ariedo Braida, for the podcast "I racconti rossoneri".
02:18 It is better to ask Ariedo, but for a director, the football market is always open, it is always alive, that is, it is not just the summer window or the winter one, but it is a daily fact, something that always lasts and never sleeps.
02:30 It is obvious that you have to live the football market all year round, you have to prepare yourself, no?
02:40 Let's say that every day you have to have the information you need to understand what your projects are, what you want to do.
02:55 If your goals are to take an attacker, a defender, a midfielder, a goalkeeper, whatever it is, you have to understand, you have to know, you have to know all the strategies that are needed to be able to make the right purchases.
03:19 I continue at the moment of direct questions. Ariedo, is the football market a matter of trust relationships with those who give you news about the players?
03:26 To say "activity" in having the right news at the right time? What is the market really like, in its nature, in its essence?
03:32 All this, but in my opinion, the players must be seen in person, because whoever has the responsibility must have the ability to decide, but must also see them.
03:49 I speak for myself, because if I saw a player, I made a decision that could be right or wrong. I made mistakes and I will probably make more.
04:03 But my eye is my eye. I have my sensitivity. When I saw a player, let's take a small example, no? Sevchenko, no? He came to Milan, but when Adriano Gagliani, my brother friend, we saw him together, he, Seva, had played badly.
04:28 That is, he had not combined anything in terms of football. And he had great doubts. Instead, I had seen him on other occasions, I said, Adriano, he is our man.
04:42 You know, because then sometimes we speak in our jargon, no? Our man. Now I have to say that he scored 176 goals in Milan, he is the second black cap in history after Norda.
04:54 That is, I mean, someone has to take responsibility. Then, I repeat, we are all wrong.
05:02 Ariedo, but in your experience, when a market deal began, at the desk, beyond the field, did you immediately understand whether the deal could go to port, could go well?
05:11 Let's say we had an organization, the bravery of our president, the bravery of Adriano Gagliani. And I collaborated and helped him in everything and everywhere. And I did it with great humility, I must say.
05:30 If we decided to do something, we went all the way, we did not give up. And so we did this. That is, you have to understand what your strength is.
05:44 But you have to understand, you must also have the psychology of understanding how you can get where you can get. And there it depends on the sensitivity.
05:55 Sometimes, Ancelotti, we had to take him, no, it seemed like it was all over. Instead, it was enough to make a contact with a person, with Giorgio Perinetti, who worked at Roma.
06:08 We put everything back in place and Ancelotti arrived. Because one did his, I gave myself to do.
06:17 Sometimes you have to, that is, it is also something that sometimes escapes. It is not, I repeat, as I said before, mathematical.
06:26 That is, there are certain things that you must have a sensitivity to understand who you have to talk to, where you have to go, with whom, how. And this is important.
06:37 So, who has experience, works on it. It is clear that it is important to have the maximum information. First you have to identify the so-called prey and then you have to hunt it.
06:51 The first time Silvio Berlusconi and Adriano Gagliani told you "Ariedo, go and hit", it was for the great and unique Marco Van Basten.
06:58 The president, the first thing, "Borghi or Borgi?" He said, "You have to go and get this." Let's say I'm as excited as a spring.
07:10 No, instead, as far as Marco is concerned, I saw him play a game against Tottenham and Marco excited me because I, who played as a small Provincial forward, understood those who were good.
07:33 Because when you know how to do the most important things, you understand it, maybe you don't tell anyone, but inside you know it.
07:44 It happened to me with another forward, with Roberto Betega. I said, "We were five forwards in the Varese."
07:52 I remember that he came to the room with me because the great Nils Lidholm put us in the room together.
08:03 When we started training, no one knew him, Betega. I said, "But this is the strongest of all."
08:09 But now I have to find another place. He can't, because he has a place. I have to find another place. And so it was.
08:17 Last thing. You often remember the episode of Andriy Shevchenko, but George O.A. also arrived in Milan before the natural times of the market.
08:25 He became a Red-Black in June 1995, but in the previous months everything was already done.
08:31 Already in the previous months it was understood that he would arrive. So what spark, what did Milan have?
08:37 Was it fascinated by Big George O.A.?
08:40 I went to see George in person three times. Three. And I had already seen him on television, etc.
08:51 He had never played well. Never.
08:57 But for me, what I felt inside was something that I said, "For me, George is also a panther, he is magical.
09:08 He walks, he is different from the others, he does not pester the field, he touches it, he moves, he does it in a unique way.
09:19 He has that grace in the game, in touching the ball, in moving it, in how he touched the ball.
09:31 I said, "For me, he is a formidable player." And then, thank God, that's how it was.
09:39 And I have to say something else, he was the first player to give up part of his earnings just to come to Milan.
09:49 For more information on the Milanese football team, visit www.milan.com/sport
09:55 Milanese Football Team
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