AC Milan are heading for a very important summer as things stand, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be right at the centre of a lot of the big moves made.
This morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes that Ibrahimovic is everywhere. He is at Milanello, where yesterday his handshake with Theo Hernandez was spotted on camera, as well as in the stands to watch games, in the dressing rooms and even travelling abroad for commercial initiatives.
The Swede is, above all, at the heart of the ‘team’ of directors who are designing the future of the club, and it is here that he will play a crucial role with one objective: to bring Milan back to the top. He works with CEO Giorgio Furlani plus technical director Geoffrey Moncada and sporting director Antonio D’Ottavio.
The plan will not deviate much from the recent past: the aim is to focus on young players, who they can sign for figures that match up with what their data analysis suggests. But what plans specifically does Ibra have?
The reinforcements
The summer mercato will revolve around a number: the No.9 which Giroud will vacate in June. Ibrahimovic will inevitably have a say in the matter, and it will be difficult to find anyone more suitable than him to direct the club’s direction in terms of centre-forwards.
Here, Zlatan has already shown the thumbs up: Joshua Zirkzee is his main candidate to take over Giroud’s legacy. Among all the names on Milan’s list – from Sesko to Guirassy, from David to Gimenez – the Dutchman from Bologna is the one who reminds him of himself.
He has that creativity, vision of game and the character to play at San Siro. When Zirzkee played and scored at the Rossoneri’s home in January, he did so under Zlatan’s eyes: for someone like that it is possible to invest a sum that has never been invested in the past.
Now that Inter have entered the race for Zirkzee, it will be interesting to understand Milan’s countermoves. Ibra, who as a footballer was used to dealing with clubs ready to move mountains to sign him, will be able to assist the club in choosing the timing.
The coach
Ibrahimovic has already had an impact on the future of the bench – there is also his green light for the technical change, after four and a half years of Pioli’s management – and he will have an influence again in choosing his replacement.
On the short list of coaches to come in and take Pioli’s spot is Mark van Bommel, who was there with Zlatan’s for his first Scudetto with Milan, and the pair built a solid bond which continued even after they both left Italy.
As a coach, Van Bommel won in Belgium (he is reigning champion with Antwerp), has the international profile required and knows the environment like none of the other candidates, such as Julen Lopetegui and Paulo Fonseca.
Ibra’s opinion will count but Zlatan will not move alone. Under Gerry Cardinale there is a collective working group where all voices have weight, and even then the owner’s judgment will be the final say.
What he has already done
Ibrahimovic has actually already made some moves for the future of the club. Jovan Kirovski will arrive to take charge of the U23 team that the club hope to launch next season, while Daniele Bonera will become the head coach.
At Milanello, however, Ibra remained at home. His presence is daily and will be even more so in the summer, because his leadership is valuable.
Inter’s loan repayment is due next month. It’s highly unlikely they’ll be in a position to challenge Milan for Zirkzee – even if they sell Lautaro.
Lautaro is one of their best players , if they sell him they will have more then enough to buy Zirkzee.
Also , They have Marotta who is the best director in serie A and arguably in all Europe ,who sniffs deals and makes them happen.
Our director’s better be switched on as we will lose any chance to sign one or two of Motta, Zirkzee, Boungiorno, Calafiori etc.
I’m not sure sacrificing Lautaro would be a smart idea. Barella or Bastoni would make more sense. Zirkzee is a great striker, but he doesn’t put in the monstrous numbers Lautaro does. And Thuram is a good target man, but can be quite wasteful.
Don’t Ac milan have their own problems in that department? like who actually owns them? I can’t get my head around why everyone is completely ignore this fact .
As for next season in my opinion it’s going to be worse than this season and I don’t like saying it and I hope I’m wrong.
Bruh maybe he won a treble but look at his last results in the league – not impressive. He clearly lacks consistency as well
What directors? Moncada is a scout who hides and goes AWOL the moment his proteges burn, D’Ottavio or whatever his name is is a yes man and someone who’s in position signing the papers they give him. Furlani is an a$$ sniffer.
So who’s going to spearhead our mercato, discuss deals, try to attract players while go against the likes of Marotta? Our sporting management is tragicomical.
Milan deve comprar zirkzee, talvez seja mortífero como Isak no Newcastle. Outros jogadores para completar parceria são Guirassy, Gimenez e Dobvisky
Treinados: Zerbi ou Thiago Motta
Fire Moncada. Bring back Maldini & Massara.
Done and done.
Bring in motta/conte, then:
1. Fix our defense please.
2. Bring in 1-2 DMs please.
3. Get us a stellar striker.
4. Address Back Up RB/LB’s please.