There has been a lot of talk about Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s role after he officially became a Senior Advisor to RedBird Capital Partners and AC Milan.
Pietro Mazzara writes in his editorial for MilanNews that while his official contractual position is that of ‘Senior Advisor’, the reality is that you ‘cannot confine Ibra to a formal position’. His role is and will be to be Zlatan, only with normal shoes on and not football boots.
The Swede has a broad role with broad views and broad skills, Mazzara writes, while he ‘knows how to work in a team’ and has ‘made himself available to the already operational team’ of CEO Giorgio Furlani plus the directors Geoffrey Moncada and Antonio D’Ottavio.
Those three ‘welcomed him with open arms’ and Ibrahimovic, with ‘great intelligence and humility’, made himself available to them, as well as Stefano Pioli and the squad of course.
He ‘asked where he could be useful’ and then ‘started talking to everyone’, offering himself as a point of reference in many aspects, but without ever pressuring those around him.
The bottom line is that Ibra is learning and will do so quickly over the next few weeks. During the coming months he ‘will often be close to the team and the coach’, while holding ‘continuous dialogue with the management trio’.
The 41-year-old ‘wants to be a positive factor for Milan’ but is smart enough to know that his new role requires a settling-in phase.
Ibrahimovic returned to Italy in the last few days after spending the festive period in the United States and saw his first win in person yesterday, with La Repubblica outlining how he was ‘like a sporting director’.
