AC Milan have published their plans for a new 48,000-seater stadium to be constructed in a disused area of land near to the city's trade fair grounds.
The Serie A club have made an official tender for planning permission on the land, which is being sold off and for which bids are currently being considered. The prospective new home of the Rossoneri would be "one of the most innovative stadiums in the world," according to the Italian club.
The venue would incorporate a hotel, a sports college, restaurants, a children's playground, green areas and "spaces reserved for artists and citizens."
Emilio Faroldi is the architect behind the plans and he told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport how he had taken ideas from several other grounds around Europe in drawing up his blueprint for what could become Milan's new home from as early as 2018.
"[It is inspired] in particular by the Emirates Stadium in London, also by St. Jakob-Park in Basel, the new San Mames in Bilbao and the Neuchatel Xamax Stadium," said Faroldi, 53. "It has been rendered more suitable to the needs of a club like Milan... projected towards the future evolution of football.
"Stadiums are no longer only thought of as places for sporting events, but as a useful piece of local urban re-organisation."
Here are the first pics of the "New AC Milan Stadium" in the Portello-Fiera Milano City area, Pavilions 1 and 2 ©ARUP pic.twitter.com/MmTheEYbx4
- AC Milan (@acmilan) February 4, 2015
Milan are the latest Italian club to reveal a definite project for a new stadium after Roma received local approval of their plans while work on Udinese's new Stadio Friuli is at an advanced stage. Juventus currently have Italy's most modern stadium, opened in 2011.
Dwindling crowd numbers in Italy have made venues with bigger capacities, such as the San Siro, which holds over 80,000, largely redundant. Juve have benefitted from a stadium with a capacity of just over 40,000 without any perimeter fencing and with the fans much closer to the pitch than at any other Italian stadium, almost always filling the ground.
Milan also intend to bring the fans closer to the action without any barriers.
"Just like the English model, fans will not only be kept under control but also be given greater responsibility," plans published on their website state.
"Fewer turnstiles to gain access and less barriers between the fans and the players. However zero tolerance to those who behave inappropriately in and out of the stadium."
A decision on whether or not Milan are successful in acquiring the land is expected to be made on March 10 at the 2015 MIPIM property trade fair in Cannes.