AC Milan striker Lorenzo Colombo has opened up about his experiences at AC Milan and the impact that Zlatan Ibrahimovic has had on his career.
Speaking during an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, the forward who is currently on loan at Monza admitted that he owes everything to Milan as a club given how long he has been there. The 22-year-old is a product of Milan’s youth academy but he has been on loan at various Serie B and A clubs.
Having had a tough time on loan at Monza this season, it was a big moment for him to score against Milan in Serie A recently. That led him to talk about how important the goal was and how much respect he has for Milan.
“My path at AC Milan has been fundamental for my growth as a player, as a man, as everything. To AC Milan I owe everything, really, it’s my second home. I was working hard on this goal, I hadn’t scored for a few months. It was very important for me as a demonstration of the work I was doing,” Colombo said.
It is clear that Ibrahimovic has been a very important figure for Colombo and the pair had a conversation about his playing time before the match against Milan in which he scored.
“When I was at AC Milan I was already big at 18. Ibra noticed it and called me Hulk. Ibra as we were returning to the pitch after half-time came up to me and Daniel and said: ‘We sent you here on loan to play and you are on the bench’. Afterwards I came on and scored. Ibrahimovic is a teammate who gives you so much emotionally. In my opinion, he raises the level for everyone. He always drives you to do something more. He doesn’t make you feel enough in a way, that he is always ready to push you, to stand behind you, if you make a mistake you have to react immediately. A figure like that gives so much to the team, to the environment.”
Colombo was asked what his best moment playing for Milan has been, and he chose his first goal for the club which came in the Europa League.
“The best moment with Milan was probably my first goal, in the Europa League preliminaries against Bodo/Glimt. We did all the Covid tests, Ibra tested positive and clearly he would have started. The doctor ran onto the pitch while we were finishing and took him out of training,” he said.
“At that point Pioli came to me and told me that I would play as a starter. Initially I was a bit tense, approaching the match it was also perhaps difficult to manage it since it was one of my first times with the big boys, my first time as a starter so, I couldn’t rest, I had the thought of the match constantly in my head. I played and even got my first goal. The only thing I regretted was that the stadium was empty, but I still remember the emotion, an absurd adrenalin rush. I made a very ugly scream. To score with the team that brought me up, after all the work, you can’t explain it.”
Colombo also had time to pass comment on Monza chairman Adriano Galliani who chose to sign him.
“Galliani is a formidable person. He has incredible energy and this energy he transmits to the whole environment. I owe a lot to the boss, because he wanted me so much, he pushed so hard to have me, I’ll thank him forever. He tried to convince me in a certain sense to accept Monza rather than staying at AC Milan, telling me what Monza is, a club made up of well-prepared people, with top club equipment, and actually that’s what I found,” he said.
