Anonymous wrote:Saudi Arabia just hosted the Italian Super Cup where AC Milan competed. They are trying to bring entertainment and opportunities to their country and Italian soccer seems to be willing to get paid to fulfill their wishes.

They’ve been holding the Spanish super cup for the last few years and the contract is running till 2030

Anonymous wrote:Saudi Arabia just hosted the Italian Super Cup where AC Milan competed. They are trying to bring entertainment and opportunities to their country and Italian soccer seems to be willing to get paid to fulfill their wishes.

Public execution (beheading by sword) was stopped on 2015. I suppose they need something to entertain the masses.

Saudi Arabia just hosted the Italian Super Cup where AC Milan competed. They are trying to bring entertainment and opportunities to their country and Italian soccer seems to be willing to get paid to fulfill their wishes.

Serie A is a tin pot league, AC Milan included. You only have to look at their transfer offers to clubs outside the league. An offer of 50 Euros, 8 eggs, and a ball of twine for a season long loan with the parent club paying full player wages and permanent transfer the next season shows all you really need to know.

It's likely the the Saudis are funding this entirely for AC Milan through their PIF. AC Milan will be spending almost zero Euros and hoping to benefit. They really don't have much to lose. KSA gets the prestige of having the academy and Milan maybe will unearth a few good players at no cost to themselves.

I feel your frustration bro. However, a couple of opinions:

- This initiative is probably highly funded by the Saudi government who is actively trying to wash money. We don’t have any entity willing to subsidize like that. Smart move for a big name that does not invest to try to compete with the big boys again.

- It is much harder easier to set up academies in less educated territories than the US. Our less educated kids here in the US who would be ideal for an all or nothing academy are playing American football and basketball between 6-10, not soccer yet.

- While I root for AC Milan every weekend with Pulisic in house, they are a far cry from a professional development outfit. This is no different than Athletico Madrid establishing an academy IMHO which I would not blink at. They would be best suited trying to develop players so their own national team can qualify for the World Cup versus this project.

Anonymous wrote:The actual club actually opening a real academy. Unlike the fake garbage they give us here in USA, just the name and brand to fleece well-off Americans.

Opened in the Middle East. This tells you exactly how BAD the American youth soccer landscape is and how FAR it is from real development and improvement when a powerhouse like AC Milano prefers desert over whatever it is we think of ourselves.

https://www.acmilan.com/en/news/articles/milan-academy/2025-12-18/a-first-step-for-ac-milan-in-saudi-arabia-the-jeddah-academy-is-born

What does AC Milan starting a business in Saudi Arabia have to do with United States youth soccer scene?

The actual club actually opening a real academy. Unlike the fake garbage they give us here in USA, just the name and brand to fleece well-off Americans.

Opened in the Middle East. This tells you exactly how BAD the American youth soccer landscape is and how FAR it is from real development and improvement when a powerhouse like AC Milano prefers desert over whatever it is we think of ourselves.

https://www.acmilan.com/en/news/articles/milan-academy/2025-12-18/a-first-step-for-ac-milan-in-saudi-arabia-the-jeddah-academy-is-born