AC Milan have unveiled plans for their new home to replace San Siro having taken inspiration from Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium

AC Milan have unveiled plans for their new home to replace San Siro – to be shared with neighbours Internazionale – with the Italian giants having taken inspiration from Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium.

On Thursday, the two Serie A clubs jointly unveiled the design of a 71,500-capacity facility that will be called the Generali Stadium, after Generali, an Italian insurance company, agreed to pay €650million (£542m) for naming rights to 2052.

The new ground is set to open in 2031, next to the current Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro) after which the old building, built a century ago this year, will be knocked down.

With seven European Cups/Champions Leagues and 19 Serie A titles, Milan are one of the biggest names in club football worldwide.

They were a dominant force in the 1990s and 2000s under the ownership of Silvio Berlusconi with icons like Dutch trio Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard, other overseas imports such as George Weah, Andrij Shevchenko and Kaka, plus domestic legends Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi in their sides. Future Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti, who went on to be the most successful coach in Champions League history, also played in midfield for Milan before moving into the dugout.

However, with the Premier League now the financially dominant force in football, Italian clubs, who regularly paid the biggest transfer fees and highest wages for several decades, have now been left playing catch up both on and off the pitch and on October 22, Bournemouth, making their debut in European competition this season, defeated Milan 3-0 in a Europa League group match.

Milan owner Gerry Cardinale, hopes the new stadium will be a financial game-changer for his team. He told BBC Sport: “This is the biggest stadium naming-rights deal in the history of global sport.

“That’s a significant achievement in its own right and especially in the context of having been done in Italy and what it means to bring Italy back to the world stage of football. But if you’re looking at this purely as an annual sponsorship payment, you’re missing the bigger picture.

“The stadium is what fundamentally transforms our economic model - matchday revenues, hospitality, premium experiences, entertainment and commercial opportunities. These are the things that allow us to compete with the biggest clubs in Europe.”

However, while the US businessman is focusing on potential economic gains, in terms of design, it seems as though the Italians have sought inspiration from Everton. As revealed by this correspondent in the ECHO back in February, a delegation from Milan attended the Blues’ home fixture against Bournemouth on what was a fact-finding mission as part of their wider intelligence gathering.

The officials from the Lombardy-based outfit were visiting to get insight into Everton’s operational processes as they were involved in the project to build their own new stadium. Blues top brass did likewise and visited Tottenham Hotspur and several other stadia when they were at a similar stage with their new stadium project, which was designed by Dan Meis.

On the back of the Hill Dickinson Stadium visit, it seems as though Milan have taken a leaf out of Meis’ book. The US architect was given a brief to build steep stands that were close to the pitch and the South Stand at the 52,769 capacity building on the Mersey waterfront features a 34.99° gradient, just 0.01° below the UK legal limit.

This exceeds FIFA’s recommended maximum steepness of 34° but the Milan plans are even steeper with designs displaying a gradient of some 37° to make fans feel closer to the action.