Ibrahimovic sends message to ‘young’ squad: “The club’s ambition is to do even more”

By Oliver Fisher -

AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was happy to make his return to the field last night but believes that he has a lot more to give compared to what he showed.

Ibrahimovic had been out of action since the game against Sassuolo last May which sealed the Scudetto win as he underwent a major surgery on his knee having played for the second half of the season in severe pain.

He only got around 20 minutes under his belt in the 2-0 victory against Atalanta at San Siro yesterday, but it marked a significant step and also made Zlatan the oldest ever player for Milan in Serie A, overtaking Alessandro Costacurta.

Ibrahimovic was interviewed by Milan TV at the end of the game and was asked how it feels to get back out there in front of the over 70,000 fans present pledging to give even more in the weeks that follow.

“It’s a difficult feeling to explain. It gives you everything, and after all I’ve suffered, I think I deserved to have this feeling. When I’m fine, I return to the pitch to help the team on the field, I want to do what I love and what is my passion,” he said.

On the Rossoneri’s momentum: “A slightly more positive moment, there’s light. There are high and low moments and when it’s low the important thing is to get back up, to fight for these trophies that we’re playing for. We’re fine now, we have to continue and not be relaxed. When you pass this moment you understand what a feeling it is, to have this feeling you have to keep working, recover well and be hungry to do more.”

On his return from injury: “I’m more present, four weeks ago I wasn’t present because I had a long-distance recovery, I wanted to recover well. Now I’m more present and close to the team on the pitch. We are all available, 1-2 players are missing and then we are complete.”

On being present: “I think I can give so much more, there’s something to do every day. The boys are young, we won the Scucdetto but the team still has to grow. The club’s ambition is to do even more: when you play at Milan you need to do things that will go down in history. Let’s see how this year goes, it seems to me the year of Napoli. If I can progress, I can give even more. As long as I feel good, I can still give much more.”

Tags AC Milan Milan Atalanta Zlatan Ibrahimovic
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