Calciomercato reports that Furlani has already been thinking about stepping down under the weight of sustained criticism from supporters, who have directed significant anger at the board following a collapse in form across the second half of the Serie A season.
The hostile environment has made his position increasingly difficult to manage with the composure required of an executive at a club of Milan's scale.
Cardinale is expected to travel to San Siro on Sunday for the final league fixture against Cagliari, which Milan must win to secure Champions League football.
The days following that match will be used for a series of meetings at the club's headquarters to assess the leadership structure in full. The central question Cardinale faces is whether to conduct a sweeping restructure — beginning with Furlani's departure — or to retain the existing framework and add personnel around it.
Assisting Cardinale in that evaluation is Massimo Calvelli, the CEO International of RedBird Development Group and operating partner responsible for maximising RedBird's international portfolio across sport, media and entertainment. Calvelli joined Milan's board of directors in November 2025 and is closely involved in operational oversight.
If a new chief executive is needed, it will be Cardinale and Calvelli who identify the candidates.
One name that has already emerged in connection with the role is Adriano Galliani, the 80-year-old former Milan vice-president who served under Silvio Berlusconi from 1986 to 2017 and was former president of Monza. Galliani knows the club's culture, its commercial relationships and its supporter expectations more intimately than almost anyone, and his association with Milan's most successful era gives any potential appointment an immediate symbolic resonance.
Whether Furlani departs or remains will depend on Cardinale's assessment of both the sporting situation — a Champions League place is still within reach — and the broader institutional credibility of the current structure.