Having promised at the end of last season to become more involved with the club, the RedBird Capital founder has largely kept his word, spending much of the summer alongside the team and head coach Ruben Amorim and taking a hands-on role in the club's most important decisions.
According to Corriere dello Sport, Cardinale is now weighing up a further step: acquiring a permanent base in Milan rather than continuing to rely on hotel stays whenever he visits for Italian fixtures.
A fixed residence would allow the American to spend more time at Milanello, attend matches at San Siro more regularly, and follow the team on away trips with greater ease, cementing a level of presence that has already been noticeable in the club's opening weeks of the season.
Cardinale's attendance has not gone unremarked upon, having been present in the stands both for the away trip to Torino and for the home win over Venezia at San Siro, where he even extended an invitation to Milanello's staff to join him.
He is expected to be pitchside again on Saturday evening for AC Milan's trip to face Juventus at the Allianz Stadium, continuing the pattern of regular appearances that has characterised his approach since the end of last season.
The push for a permanent Milan base fits into a broader effort by Cardinale to signal long-term commitment to the club and its supporters, following a period in which RedBird's ownership had at times drawn criticism from sections of the Milan fanbase for feeling distant from the day-to-day running of the team.
That criticism reached a peak in May, when Milan's failure to secure Champions League qualification prompted furious scenes from supporters, including banners displayed outside the hotel where Cardinale was staying during his visit.
Since then, the American has restructured the club's leadership, promoting Massimo Calvelli to chief executive and taking a more central role himself in overseeing footballing strategy alongside Amorim.
Buying a home in the city would mark the clearest signal yet that Cardinale intends his more visible involvement to be a lasting feature of his ownership rather than a temporary response to last season's disappointment.