Lucas Biglia has revealed some interesting information on what Zlatan Ibrahimovic said to the idea of AC Milan players taking a pay cut in Covid.
Biglia signed in 2017 as part of a huge summer spending spree in which over €200m was spent. He was meant to be the midfield glue that held everything together, with €20m paid to snatch him from Lazio despite the fact that he was 31 years of age.
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It never really worked for Biglia with the Rossoneri as his time was negatively impacted by several injuries. In three seasons with the club, he missed a total of 43 games due to physical problems and he has always been honest about why things didn’t turn out well.
Biglia spoke to Diretta.it (via Calciomercato.com) and he recounted his career as a player and transitioning into being a coach, refusing to rule out the idea of returning to Italy to take up a job if it were the right one.
You said ‘Forza Lazio’ while you were about to sign for Milan…
“I’d arrived the night before after two very intense days. The next day I took the tests at Milan Lab, very demanding tests physically, and after practically forty days of vacation without any specific training.
“I was carrying a lot of stress, and I even threw up at the end of the test. On my way back, someone I wouldn’t even call a fan came up and asked me to say hello, and I said that ‘Forza Lazio’ that has gone down in history, also because it was filmed. But no one knew what had happened beforehand.”
What are your memories of Ibrahimovic?
“Once, Ibrahimović forcefully reprimanded Gabbia after a mistake, as he usually did, and he reacted. And Zlatan did it precisely to bring out the character of his teammates. And after Gabbia’s response, he said to him: ‘There, that’s what I wanted to see from you’.
“Shortly after his arrival, the Covid pandemic broke out, and rumors began to circulate within the club that wages needed to be reduced. His reaction was clear: ‘I played for Berlusconi’s AC Milan, and I don’t intend to give up even a single euro. For me, you can even go bankrupt’.”
Biglia didn’t turn out especially well but I always felt a bit bad for him when he uttered that embarrassing comment. I can imagine he was rather ashamed even in the situation when he realized what he had said I know I would have been completely red in the face had I been in that position regardless of club one signs for.
If Ibra actually has said that about AC Milan then maybe he should strongly consider resigning as that is even worse than Biglias thought slip.
The players should be the very last ones in the organization to take a pay cut. and nobody should have complied with any covid bs or shaming.
Its fair enough if a player doesn’t want to take a pay cut but to say that the club just as well can go bankrupt instead is absolutely outrageous and clearly shows Ibras mentality and ego shine through if what Biglia says is actually correct. In regard of the covid pandemic you do realize that clubs lost huge amounts in that period of time due to empty stadiums and lost revenues and that was also why the ffp basically was set on a pause in that span of time.
Ibra said what every every player in every club was thinking