During the presentation for Youssouf Fofana at Casa Milan, which was delayed by about two hours, Zlatan Ibrahimovic also answered some questions from the journalists. He admitted that more could happen on the mercato, but also reiterated faith in the talents.
The signing was announced by Milan earlier today, with Fofana signing a contract until 2028, and Ibrahimovic was visibly pleased as they walked out to meet the media. Naturally, he was asked if more would be done on the mercato.
As cited by MilanNews, the Swede stated that the Rossoneri’s squad is in a very good place as they also have talents in the Milan Futuro team to use. However, he also admitted that he might not rest on the seventh day…
Why did you choose Fofana?
“We looked for a midfielder who can keep the team in balance. He is a complete player, who knows how to break the lines, and who can score goals. It was one of the longest negotiations, but now what matters is that he is here. The team is complete, we are very happy and I welcome him to Milan.”
Is the mercato over?
“The coach is the coach, the club does the rest. We don’t need to make any more signings. With these four new ones, we have doubled the alternatives and then there is Milan Futuro. These four signings were already objectives even before choosing the coach. However, the market closes when I say it closes. We are on day 6 out of 7.”
And about Fofana he adds…
“He is the most complete of all.”
What’s the status of Theo Hernandez and Maignan’s renewals?
“We’re talking. Everything is under control, everything is ok. We know what we want from them and they know what they want from us. It can all be resolved in a minute or with a little more time, but everything is ok.”
On his son’s double in the Primavera
“He’s working hard. My last name is not easy and having a father who did what he did, it’s not easy. But I’m happy for him.”
With the arrival of Fofana, Milan have five French players. Is France the country with the most talent?
“We know it is a country with great talent. I played there for four years and there is a great school of talent with players who become top players and for us, having them is a source of pride, especially when they bring results. The important thing is a compact, united team and results.”
Can Fofana reach the level of the top European players in his role?
“Youssouf is still young. He has room for growth. Then he brings balance and stability. We have brought in the backbone of the team in this mercato, which will give balance to the team. We really like his profile, then it is up to the coach to make him perform at his best. We are sure that Milan will improve a lot, then how he plays depends on the coach, he brings a lot to the field both defensively and offensively.”
Are you exploring a third striker?
“We don’t want to block our talents. With these four signings, we have two players for each role, in some there are more than two. We are confident in our talents. Torriani will be Maignan’s deputy, then when Sportiello returns, they will have competition.
“We are not afraid to put talents on the pitch and let them play, otherwise these talents are not needed. When players go on loan, you do not control them. They, being at Milan, have control and for this reason, we do not bring in the extra that is not needed. We want to help these talents grow. We play to win, but we are not afraid to launch them.”
What nickname will you give to Fofana?
“I’ll leave that to the fans…”
God rested on the seventh day, do you want to do better than him?
“I don’t feel tired, so let’s continue…”
Is Manu Koné part of the seventh day?
“We are following him, he has grown a lot. He played in the Olympics, then we will see what we have in our heads. But yes, we are following him. With Fofana, a bit of space closes for him because they are similar players, but we will see. There is only one day left in which we are creating this new world of Milan.”
How much mentality does Milan need to always finish in the top four in Europe?
“Ours is a team for both Italy and Europe. It is in Europe that we want to return to the top. We have important players with international experience. The Champions League is the Champions League. Anything can happen and nothing can happen.
“We want to confirm ourselves year after year, we want to be competitive in the present and in the future. We have brought a coach who has a different identity than before. We are at the top in Italy, but it is in Europe that we want to return to the top. Here there are no excuses, we play for all the trophies and we fight.”
Tonight’s game is scheduled for 20:45 and Fofana will greet the fans at half-time. Milan have been very strong against Torino at home and it’s now up to Paulo Fonseca to confirm this trend, otherwise there will be great disappointment.
Looks like Zlatan didn’t like Fonseca’s comments on the market…
He did at least seem a bit annoyed.
What did Fonseca say?
He said that the midfielder that will arrive is Fofana, and this was before the deal was done, basically putting pressure on the club to bring him already.
He also said that after Fofana the mercato is over, meaning no more players will arrive. Then he said that some players need to leave, because the squad is too big.
I get the feeling that Zlatan wants him to only focus on the coaching.
On Fofana, I think the club’s plan was to stall as long as possible, make it look like they’re looking at other targets like Kone, until Monaco would get desperate and accept the original bid, possibly in the last days of the mercato.
Then Fonseca came and basically ruined their bluff. Soon after, Milan increased the bid and it got accepted…
Is France the country with the most talent?
what type of question is this? Did someone actually plan this interview and thought it wise to include this?
God rested on the seventh day, do you want to do better than him?
Think of this question too. Equally ill=thought of but not as bad as the first. Na wa o.
Why is the last one ill thought of ? If there really was a god then he/she surely shouldn’t have been lazy on the last day of the week because then the world might have been a lot better wouldn’t it ?
I find the last question semi funny because Ibra has often called himself god and during this mercato has used an analogy of god creating the world in 7 days.
That last question is worded due to Ibra’s comments and style, they wouldn’t phrase it like that for any random interview.
He’s putting pressure on the coach.
2 views which might not necessarily be contradictory. The coach might be happy with what he has at his disposal, however Ibra might be open to opportunities that could present itself. So I don’t think there are issues but rather that the coach feels he’s got what he wanted as an absolute minimum.
What talents…? Losers…..!!! What a clown😂😂😂😂
He is referring to the u23/Futuro players.
On a sidenote and not to offend you if Koko is your actual name but there once lived a world famous gorilla who spoke sign language named Koko, quite an interesting story and it had a vocabulary of over 1000 words 🙂