Zlatan Ibrahimovic took to the stage at Milanello yesterday with a smile on his face, and it would set the tone for what would be a very intriguing press conference.
The Swede spoke in front of around 70 journalists at Milanello and the event began with a question and answer session on stage with one of the Milan TV journalists, Simone Nobilini, and then the questions were opened up to the floor.
We transcribed the whole press conference if you have time to read the over 3,000 words, but La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) have picked out some of the more striking things that he touched upon.
Firstly, Ibrahimovic announced the appointment of Paulo Fonseca as the new coach and Fonseca, while on his holidays, gave his first words as a Milan manager: “I am proud, I will work to honour this Club and its great history. Together we want to write a new chapter of success that we hope to celebrate with our extraordinary fans.”
The reasons for the choice listed by Ibrahimovic are interesting: “We chose him to bring a dominant, offensive game, with the balance to defend. We want to bring something new to the players and to San Siro. He convinced us because he is ambitious. We believe in it a lot.”
Ibra spoke clearly throughout the conference and with a lot of frankness, including when he explained that Antonio Conte was not considered: “With all due respect to him, who is a great coach, he wasn’t the one who we were looking for.”
And what were Milan looking for? A coach ready to work with young people, to share decisions, to stay away from controversies. Ibra said that the team will be even younger and it was not a given, because some believe the leaders like Giroud and Kjaer must be replace.
However, some philosophical alignment between the U23s and the first team is definitely expected because there will be players (Zeroli, Simic, Camarda etc.) who will play in the ‘second team’ and will be part of Fonseca’s extended squad.
During an hour-long conference, Ibra reassured the AC Milan fans about the future of the three star players in the squad: “Maignan, Theo and Leao will remain”. Then he added: In Mike and Theo’s situations, anything is possible. If someone comes to me and says ‘I don’t want to stay’, it’s a problem. But the two of them are very happy, they must continue.”
It is clear that Milan cannot resist offers of €100m, the paper writes, but the message is strong and comforts the fans. The other reassuring words towards the supporters were regarding the ambitions of the management, the owners and of course Zlatan himself.
“We are not satisfied, we agree with them [the fans who are unhappy]. Milan don’t win, Milan make history. The next step is to strengthen the team, to win trophies in Italy and Europe. Finishing in the top 4 is not my mentality.When I met Cardinale, I told him: ‘I don’t accept losing. I have to win and I will win’.”
However, there is somewhat of a contradiction in what he says, because team that demands instant success must sign experienced players who have won before and leaders for the squad in addition to young people. Milan, on the other hand, will try to win with their sustainable football.
Closing with three names, two expected, one less so. Ibra sent a message to the agents of Joshua Zirkzee, the big target: “Zirkzee is strong but there is a list of attackers and we don’t do charity here.” The clear reference is to commissions.
Francesco Camarda: “He’s more talented than I was at that age but let’s go slowly.” And, surprisingly, Matteo Gabbia: “He deserved a national team call-up.”
This role doesn’t fit you Zlatan, you are losing your character and fans.