Tare: ‘Allegri has long Milan contract, planning for future together’

Milan director Igli Tare insists Max Allegri ‘has a very long contract and we are working with him to plan for the future,’ but Champions League qualification is essential.

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It kicks off at the Stadio Bentegodi at 14.00 UK time (15.00 CEST).

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from today’s Serie A games on the Liveblog.

So much has been said in recent weeks about the future of Allegri, who has been heavily linked with the vacant Italy job, and is also reportedly not entirely pleased with the club structure.

Tare and Milan trust Allegri to stay

“I think it is futile talking about this now, we need to focus all our energy on achieving our objective, which is Champions League qualification. That would mean so much for the future and strategy of this club,” insisted Tare on DAZN Italia.

“There is nothing to say about Allegri, he has done a very good job this season, he has a very long contract with this club, as he said yesterday he likes to plan long-term, so we are working with him to plan for the future.”

It has also been suggested that Tare’s own future might depend on whether or not Allegri stays at Milan next term.

“I honestly don’t think about this situation, as it is part of football. When results are lacking, everything is up for debate, we are aware of that. The most important thing for us is to achieve our targets, then once that has happened, we can all sit down with Furlani, Ibrahimovic and the others to plan for next season.”

There is a strange situation in these closing weeks of the campaign, as the Rossoneri are coming off painful back-to-back defeats to Napoli and Udinese.

However, Napoli’s loss to Lazio yesterday means a win here would send them back into second place, with the focus now on consolidating Champions League qualification.

“There are six finals for us and the next is always the most important, so we have the maximum respect for Verona, a team with nothing to lose. It means we must put in a good performance from the very start and set us on track for a good end to the season,” concluded Tare.

The 4-3-3 tactical experiment is abandoned after the dismal 3-0 loss to Udinese, so they return to 3-5-2 with Matteo Gabbia back in action two months after surgery on a sports hernia.

There is one other issue they need to worry about, because with Juventus coming up next week, Luka Modric, Rafael Leao, Youssouf Fofana, Zachary Athekame and Alexis Saelemaekers are all one yellow card away from suspension.