It's been a rough few years for AC Milan, with the seven time European champions undergoing a crippling period of embarrassing underachievement which has seen them barely trouble the top end of Serie A since they last lifted a Scudetto in 2011. Star players have left the San Siro in their droves and the trophies and European football have dried up. However, the glory days may be on their way back with news breaking that China's richest man, Jack Ma, is set to complete a 700million takeover of the 'Rossoneri'.
Ma, who is worth an estimated $25 billion founded online retail giant Alibaba, which owns Weibo, China's largest social network. An Italian-American banking group have brokered the deal between Ma and Milan, which would allow Ma and his group to secure 70% of the 18 time Italian champions initially before completing a full takeover within the next 12 months.
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Ma also co-owns Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande who were managed by the legendary Marcello Lippi between 2012 and 2014, leading the club to three Chinese Super League titles and an AFC Champions League triumph. It is believed the World Cup winning manager will be appointed to head up Milan's sporting operations.
The fate of the takeover now lies in the hands of Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian Prime Minister who has owned Milan since his 1986 takeover, which transformed the San Siro club from recently relegated also rans to a dominant European powerhouse, boasting the likes of Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten, Frank Rijkaard, Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Marcel Desailly, Zvonimir Boban and Dejan Savicevic as the 'Rossoneri' swept four Serie A titles and three Champions Leagues between 1987 and 1994.
Milan fans will be hoping Ma's potential takeover will bring about a return of those glory days.
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(H/T The Mirror)