AC Milan sporting director Ricky Massara has claimed the club are expecting ‘great things’ from Sandro Tonali and are enjoying every moment of having Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Massara spoke to Sky Italia before the game at Celtic Park about a number of topics related to the Rossoneri, with his comments transcribed by MilanNews and translated below.
He began by discussing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a man who showed his worth to the team at 39 years of age with a brace in the derby.
“We enjoy his every moment, he is an extraordinary player who has raised the level of the whole team, he works every day to improve the group and he is succeeding,” he said.
Since Elliott Management took control of the club and implemented their own figures in charge, the Rossoneri have largely deployed a youth-led recruitment policy devised around signing young talent and developing them into top players.
On that, Massara said: “It is a project that started last year and continued this summer, it is a rejuvenated team that also has some elements of experience that compensate.
“It is a group that has great room for growth, we are confident because they are all good guys who are doing very well.”
There has been plenty of speculation about what exactly Milan’s objectives are for the season, even if the obvious one is a top four finish.
“We want to do better than last year, only a few games have passed, tonight a competition that we care about begins, the group is very difficult but we want to move forward,” Massara said.
Pioli handed a start to Sandro Tonali for the Europa League group stage opener, giving the summer signing a chance to show off
On Tonali, Massara said: “We expect great things from him. We are already satisfied with him, the pair of midfielders are doing extraordinary things, but Tonali is also growing day by day and will make a great contribution to the team.”
