Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned to AC Milan yesterday after 7 years, as the club announced the signature of the Swedish star on their official website. Former club CEO Adriano Galliani elaborated on the sale of the attacker in the summer of 2012 in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport (via milannews.it).
“Who chose to separate? Certainly not Ibra. He absolutely did not want to leave. He was sold for budgetary reasons. He always decided his own fate, except on that occasion,” he said.
The current CEO of Monza also nostalgically remembered the Rossoneri winning times with Ibrahimovic at the centre of the attention before the Juventus dominance began. He also did not fail to mention the famous ghost goal scored by Sulley Muntari at the San Siro in one of the decisive clashes of the 2011/12 season.
“Together it was the first year, the last of Milan before the Juventus of records, and Supercoppa in 2011. The following year we came second, it was the year of Muntari’s goal not given in Milan-Juve in February.”
Finally, Galliani took a look back at the January transfer market in 2012 when the Rossoneri were close to selling Alexandre Pato to PSG and replacing him with Carlos Tevez from Manchester City. In the end, however, both operations collapsed and the Rossoneri had to console themselves with the signing of Maxi Lopez.
“But before, in the January market, everything was done for the sale of Pato to PSG and the arrival of Tevez from City. The Ibra-Tevez partnership was a dream. Everything collapsed and who knows what could have been. I think we would have continued to win, at that time we were still ahead of Juve. History changed, Milan came second and in the summer of 2012 the legends left,” Galliani concluded.
