Rome // AC Milan are bidding to lure back Carlo Ancelotti, who was sacked this week by Spanish giants Real Madrid, the Italian club’s vice-president Adriano Galliani confirmed on Thursday.
Ancelotti led Real to their 10th European Cup title last season but was sacked after the club finished runners-up to Barcelona in the Primera Liga and lost to Juventus in the semi-finals of this year’s Uefa Champions League.
“The deadline for a reply is Wednesday, June 3,” Galliani said after meeting with the 55-year-old Italian at Madrid’s Wellington Hotel.
“I’ll make my decision on Wednesday,” Ancelotti confirmed, adding that he had “always gotten on well with Galliani”.
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As for the “sabbatical year” that Ancelotti had said he was considering after his sacking, he added simply “we’ll see”.
“Carlo wanted to take a year out, we’re hoping to convince him to accept Milan,” said Galliani, whose side are 10th in the Serie A with one match left this season.
“He still has some days to think about it, he told me the chances were 50-50.”
The affable coach had said last weekend he would either stay at Real Madrid or take a year off to undergo surgery on a worsening and urgent health problem.
“I must have a back operation because of spinal stenosis that for some time creates a tingle in my hands,” he told Italian newspaper Il Giornale.
“I don’t know how long the period of recovery will be,” he added. “But I can assure you that I’ve had plenty of (job) offers from Italy, England, Germany.”
Ancelotti coached AC Milan from 2001 to 2009, winning the Serie A in 2004 and two Champions League titles in 2003 and 2007. He also won the old European Cup twice as a player with AC Milan in 1989 and 1990.
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