AC Milan brought Zlatan Ibrahimovic back to the club during the 2023-24 season, and there has been a lot of talk about what his role is at the club. Today, a report has claimed that his role may not be as prominent as once imagined.
Ibrahimovic’s return brought many questions, and whilst answers have been given to some, there are still some gaps in the knowledge of his role and his power at Milan. Sat alongside Gerry Cardinale, he was referred to as the RedBird founder’s vessel, meaning he, or his ideas, could be present when he was not able to be alongside his other management members.
Given the Swede’s experience within football too, it seems a very shrewd idea to have someone with Zlatan’s stature and expertise amongst the management team to offer his opinion on vital decisions and provide words of wisdom to others when needed.
However, a report has claimed that he may not have been prominent in the appointment of Paulo Fonseca. As Calciomercato.com states, the appointment is a ‘mystery’ compared to some of the coaches available, and they offer two hypotheses.
Firstly, Ibrahimovic backed the appointment, but this is not the difficult part of the appointment. Now, he must further endorse him, protect him, and strengthen him and his side. A difficult task, but one that Ibrahimovic can do, especially with the respect he commands.
Alternatively, they suggest that there is a possibility that Fonseca’s appointment was not the former striker’s choice, and he was not given a say in the choice. The report states that Ibra is ‘one of few football people’ at the club, and questions could arise about his importance to the management if he has not had a say in the decision.
Regardless of whether he chose for or against Fonseca, he now must support the coach and provide the tools for his team to flourish.
Ibra was always a smoke screen for Redbird. Gerry has successfully clipped the once proud lion 😑👌
True. They need a figure to act as a shield. To act as a comforting figure for fans. To act as a symbol. Simply a Maldini but without a voice.
Absolutely
I’d rather have RedBird than a billionaire megalomaniac or oil fund that will spend recklessly to chase trophies. Let’s be honest, that’s what everyone who constantly complains about RedBird wants. They want someone like Berlusconi to come again: they don’t care about the long term health of the club but for us to outspend our rivals and have the bigger names on our roster again. What makes sport exciting is not knowing who will win. The last 3 seasons Serie A had had 3 different champions and is close to having 6 UCL clubs. The model of Elliot and RedBird ensures that Milan will always be in the competition for silverware without being reckless and going into debt. Sit back and watch football and enjoy. Don’t make yourselves crazy. It’s sport not your life.
Ah yeah it’s boring to win. We recognised you Jerry.
Seriously, do you think you would be a Milan fan if it had no UCL trophy and was competing for UCL appearance since its inception? Do you think you would be a Milan fan if we never had legendary players or coaches to be proud of? Do you think you would be a Milan fan if Berlusconi never turned the fate of the club when it was struggling?
All of this is just your opinion. I live in Milan and I disagree with you.
I agree with you. I live in indonesia but i am milan fans since they got the UCL 1994. Get the best coach, best players and best owner. I remember the milan management now its like Arsenal 20 years ago under Wenger. Buy cheap sell most. Maybe they stable with the structure, wages, and revenue but not in championship contender. Remember last time milan win the UCL ?? Now madrid whos spent lot of money its on UCL Finale. Standard milan club its like Madrid or barca, not like arsenal. No pain No gain for the great club, buy cheap sell most its only for feeder club. Forza Milan Sempre !!
You’re a fan for longer than me haha greetings from Milan friend 😉 Good to see so many people here from around the world looking to revive our past and recent glory. Forza Milan!
The american burger, the vulture fund
There always had the hidden agenda. Tell me if i am wrong. Hehe
Milan’s issues are a downstream effect of Italy’s problems overall. When England and Spain were penning lucrative TV partnerships and building new stadiums, Italy was buying aging stars and kicking the can for financial growth down the road. So now many clubs in Italy, not just Milan are on a good path of spending wisely AND being competitive. I’m sorry this model can’t guarantee a chip every season but the fruits of these ideas won’t be ripe for years to come. Every year since Eliot took over the brand has gained fans and value. That in turn will allow them to return to the top. Milan simply do not have the financial means to compete with Real and City so stop comparing them to those clubs.
Overall you’re right but it’s really an excuse to follow Redbird’s agenda, which is to keep the club sustainable so it will be easier to sell it later for maximum profits. We can afford to raise the salary cap, at least to keep our top players. Why are we not doing it? Because these guys don’t care about sport. You can’t forget that Jerry compares Milan to a widget factory or that Scaroni said we only compete for top 4. If all Italian struggle, we should be able to compete for the Scudetto. Redbird and the fans just don’t share the same goal.
That’s a huge leap. I love it when people pull out their crystal ball. And they don’t care about the sport? Now that’s just preposterous. Easy for some here to sit on their pedestal and whine about it all.
Bro thanks for the new word, “preposterous”, I didn’t know it. It fits you well. No crystal ball, just interviews from Jerry saying “running a football club is like running a widget factory” or Scaroni saying “we only aim at top 4 so our fans around the world can see us”. Either you don’t want to see it or you don’t understand it but every decision made since they fired Maldini has been business only.
RedBird’s project is geared for a long term sustainability and success. Many Milan fans want results now. I get it and I would love for Cardinale to show ambition with a coaching appointment and reinforcements. Fonseca is not it. For me it still doesn’t compute.
Cardinale is on a solid financial platform now to spend more on this team to boost results. But for better or worse they have a system they will stick to and die by. I get it also, especially as we see all these clubs half a billion in debt.
I would love for an Arab ownership with Maldini in charge. That would be a hell of a thing to behold.
LOLOLOLOLO
Ya cause it totally sucks to sign the world’s best players, to always compete for titles and UCL, to never lose players over salary, to have the best facilities, etc….
Ya it would totally suck is we were owned by wealthy Arab investors like Man City. I would much rather stay in our situation with wage caps, 35M yearly transfer budget, sell a big star each year cause we won’t pay them market value, still renting a stadium, won’t spend $$ on winning coaches….YUP – amazing!!!🤣
It’s crazy how many fans have been brainwashed by Redbird. They actually believe that in order to be successful we cannot have ANY debt LOL. Pls educate yourself on how business works. Lots of sheep on this chat.
Sure you can be “successful” and have debt. Look at Inter. We did it two years ago without debt. Which method do you prefer?
Remember hakan and thuram only gap 500k to milan ?? maldini already do his best and maybe milan saved money 1m for these guy but they give the seri A title to Inter. How funny is it ? And dont forget, hakan and thuram its one of lot orchestra to inter title.
With the city oil fund or City Football Group, maybe they spent lot of money but they get more huge revenue. Raise your standard. I am not Oil Fund die hard fans but girona already on UCL spot this season. Chelsea and newcastle with his american burger only go for conference league. Remember last time United won the EPL ? Glazer and co still at there. I am not oil fund fans but if the American burger invest to football, theres always have hidden agenda. The vulture fund.
Hakan had his head somewhere else and didn’t even want to play for Milan anymore. He was nothing more than a snake. Don’t bring up that snake here. The issue with Thuram was regrettable, but life goes on and there are other players out there.
What you folks that want to sell this team to some rich Arab oil fund fail to realize is that isn’t working. Manchester City is about to find out why soon enough.
What we have done with financial stability and a long term plan, was obtain CL football and get a league title because of it. There is an actual plan. Manchester City, however, has to deal with 115 counts of financial irregularities that could result in relegation to the second division and severe financial punishments.
The days of free spending are over.
If what you asked is related to the second star + demolition + humiliation in every derby, then i dont mind we have debt.
I am a fan, just like you. I am not limiting myself to judge everything based only on economical/bussiness perspective.
That is just not my capability nor my responsibility.
I demand thropies, i demand winning in everything we are involved.
That is the core of a fanbase.
Sure, we must not repeat the mistake 200mil spent during yonghong li’s tenure.
But, if the management have a little pride and dignity of being the part of this club, they should sign better players.
Look at juve, their mercato will destroy us next season. Do you think we cannot afford motta, di gregorio, calafiori? Compared with all the money spent for players like origi, ballo toure, kalinic?
I know signing player is like gambling, we dont know the future. But sure we can use logic and data, so that we can predict what kind of player the will become.
There is a lot of player, promising talent if we are serious. Raspadori, lookman, buongiorno, lukaku, luis alberto, samardzic, etc.
The curse with this milan is we pick the “wrong” option much more frequent than any other big teams in serie A.
Balo Toure, Kalinic (from 6 years ago)… that’s who you are bringing up? We’ve signed other players, like Pulisic who has had a smashing first season. Rejinders has also been successful. Others are promising like Okafor and Musah, both of which started to improve as the season went on.
You brought up a player that wasn’t even signed under this management, or even under the prior one. And Balo Toure and Origi were Maldini’s mistakes.
Also promising talent… yet you name Lukaku?
Maybe wait to see WHO we sign first before making judgments. Wait until we see who we sign during this summer.
Also Juventus is NOTHING to write home about. Their team has more glaring holes than we do. They fell apart this season. At one point they were ahead of us point wise, and fell completely apart.
Arab ownership and Maldini in charge. That’s how I would roll.
But I wouldn’t be prepared to face the ethical dilemma that comes with Oil money.
I also cheer for the sales of jerseys in Florida and the Italian championships of balanced budgets……
Just see Real Madrid, they have great financial income, big profit, and buy star player. And also theres team like ajax dortmund or tottenham. Do you really want to see milan just like ajax dortmund tottenham?
u r the ideal jery’s dream fan, no complain, happy that “Milan will always be in the competition”, buy jersey & some merchandise maybe.
but sorry.. i fan from the Gullit/ VanBasten era, it was not just “Milan only in competition” but we want to win it, all the trophies, we want best players, we are 2nd after Madrid (did they spend?) if Chelsea/ PSG/ City/ Bayern not recklessly (u said) spend they won’t win.
Arsenal/ Lille/ West Ham/ Schalke/ Atalanta Dortmund the ideal moneyball clubs, how many trophies in last 20y?
Milan in Berlusconi era, how many trophies?
Chelsea/ PSG maybe got transfer banned for 1 or 2 mercato, but they can buid squad for next 5y in single season, even can win during banned.
if Thaksin Shinawatra didn’t buy players reklessly Arab won’t buy them, maybe they will still be relegation battler club every season.
So this is what the media is trying to do?
Stir up trouble where there is none and publish speculation? Ah, yes of course. As they always do. Especially when it comes to Milan.
“especially with the respect he commands.”
WHAT RESPECT? Ibra has shown nothing as an office worker to command respect.
They literally hired him for the Likes.
And You thought Pulisic was a PR hire.
Advisor zlatan ibrahimovic is useless, his title ADVISOR clearly says it all
Cardinale got IBRA for just one reason. Because he knew that when he fired Maldini. Had to do something to look good to the fans.
From “god” to spineless & obedient servant. A comforter.
Omg! What do you even know?? Zlatan deserves so much more respect. Wtf…
Ibra is only a puppet figure to calm down the fans after Maldini got fired without respect and Tonali got sold. Meanwhile Gerry and his boyfriend Furlani will keeps destroying Milan with their stupid moneyball program.
I gotta stop reading colments on this site. It just gets more and more stupid.