The ‘American-style’ Monza remains a mystery

The date is the same: 29 May, this spring’s promotion to Serie A just like the historic first time four years ago. Monza, however, has changed. And quite a lot. It returns to the top flight without Fininvest’s control, without the transfer market antics of ‘Condor’ Galliani, and without Berlusconi’s presidential aura. The manager has also changed in recent weeks: from Paolo Bianco, who won the play-offs before stepping down, to Ivan Juric, fresh from a string of far from thrilling spells at Roma, Southampton and Atalanta. The sporting director has changed as well, after just one season: Argentine Nicolas Burdisso is leaving, and Pedro Obiang is taking over. At 34, Obiang had stopped playing football for Monza precisely to join the club’s management team. The linchpin remains captain Matteo Pessina, who arrived in Brianza during the very first summer of Serie A and has never left. “We’ll make you change your minds,” he promises, given that the red-and-white club has lost its way somewhat.

There are various questions – and they do not necessarily lead to negative answers: the pitch will have the final say. For a while, it was believed that Monza’s rise was inextricably linked to the figures of Cav. and Galliani – always them – who had embarked on a fine sporting experiment in their twilight years following their decades of success at Milan. The sale of the club, just a few weeks after its first relegation to Serie B, seemed to reinforce this hypothesis, raising the spectre of a potential break-up. Instead, within a few months, Monza were back at the top, now run by an American investment fund – as is increasingly the case with clubs in our country – and aiming for a concrete, structural revival. The firm in question is called Beckett Layne Ventures (BLV), which specialises in investment, strategic consultancy and sports management: Lauren Crampsie, the current chair of the Brianza-based club, had worked at Chelsea alongside BLV’s founder between 2022 and 2023. It was the complex transition phase between the Abramovich era and the American era. The two executives oversaw the club’s strategic restructuring, from rebranding to the sponsorship package. That experience led to the decision to strike out on their own, applying the Chelsea model to a smaller, more manageable club.

Monza has neither Lake Como nor the history of Venice. Before Berlusconi, it was a typical provincial town, with a deeply felt footballing identity that was nonetheless confined to the local area: the new owners, however, recognised untapped business potential. Its proximity to Milan, the global appeal of Formula 1, and the media buzz surrounding Cav’s tenure, which remains significant. To get off to a good start in Italy, Crampsie has chosen to put its trust in Mauro Baldissoni: not only is he currently general manager of a major club like Roma, but he held that role during James Pallotta’s tenure. He knows what it means to work with an American board, bringing together two different worlds within the same club. In Monza, as the new chief executive, it was no coincidence that he immediately brought Burdisso – a former Giallorossi defender – with him, and today he is starting afresh with Juric in charge: it was Juric who introduced him to the press a few days ago, with the shared understanding that the Biancorossi are still a work in progress. Both in terms of the transfer market and the stadium – because the club’s plans also include the multifunctional modernisation of the Brianteo.

There is still a month of negotiations to go; so far, there have been few changes to the squad – apart from a few promising youngsters – and between now and 1 September, it is reasonable to expect more than a few high-calibre signings. At the same time, the relegation two years ago had been marred by injuries, and that same group of players, without any further upheavals, proved they could win back their place in Serie A on the pitch – albeit with some difficulty, right up to the final decisive match. This was no mean feat, and one that supporters now view with curiosity: betting on Monza as a sustainable footballing ecosystem is no small challenge at such a high level. And it’s different from that of the other two newly promoted sides we’ve discussed. There are many unknowns, but one additional certainty: compared to Frosinone and Venezia, the Brianza-based side already know how to secure survival. In fact, two in a row. On this point, Pessina may well be right: we mustn’t write them off straight away. It wasn’t just the Cavaliere’s influence, evidently.