Former AC Milan Owner 'Hurt' By Club's Struggles In Serie A

Former AC Milan Owner & President Silvio Berlusconi said that it is "painful to watch" his ex-club as it struggles in Serie A in its first season since his 31-year reign ended, according to Ben Gladwell of ESPN.com. Berlusconi sold Milan to a Chinese-led group of investors last April, but despite the group committing over €200M ($233.2M) to signing 11 new players in the summer, the club remains "off the pace in Serie A with a 15-point gap to the summit." Berlusconi said, "I've not been back to the stadium since, but when I see Milan on TV, it hurts me. I'm very disappointed because I see that the agreements I had taken at the beginning with the new owners, which were taken for the good of the team, are not those I see now." Berlusconi's remarks come a month after he first criticized his former club, accusing it of "spending badly in the summer transfer window" and saying that it should not keep coach Vincenzo Montella, who he had "never wanted to appoint in the first place" (ESPN.com, 11/2).