According to journalist Matteo Moretto, Krösche is now among the leading names under consideration as Gerry Cardinale's ownership group works through what amounts to a complete reset of the club's football operation following a season that ended without European qualification.
AC Milan currently lack a confirmed chief executive, sporting director or technical director, and head coach, with days of meetings and evaluations under way at Casa Milan.
Krösche, 44, has been sporting director at Eintracht Frankfurt since 2021, a period during which the German club won the 2022 Europa League and qualified for the Champions League on multiple occasions.
His recruitment record includes high-profile sales of Randal Kolo Muani and Omar Marmoush, and earlier, at RB Leipzig, signings such as Dani Olmo and Christopher Nkunku. He is under contract at Frankfurt until 2028, a fact previously cited as a significant obstacle to any move.
This is not the first time Krösche's name has been linked to Italian football. He was previously mentioned in connection with Milan last spring, and has also been associated with Roma. According to Goal, he is now being considered alongside Ramón Planes, the former Barcelona sporting director, as Milan's search widens.
The most significant development, however, concerns the head coach search rather than the sporting director role. Austria national team manager Ralf Rangnick, who had been in talks with Milan for an extended period, is reported to have lost patience waiting for a definitive answer from Cardinale's group and has withdrawn his candidacy.
Milan's situation contrasts sharply with the swift, decisive management changes completed elsewhere in Serie A this week — Torino confirming Ignazio Abate, Sassuolo appointing Alberto Aquilani, and Roma announcing Tony D'Amico as their new sporting director, all within 48 hours.
For a club that finished outside the European places last season and now risks starting pre-season with three of its most important leadership positions still unfilled, the longer this process continues, the more it looks less like careful deliberation and more like an institution struggling to make a decision — any decision — at all.