Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s summer schedule is already packed, and that leads to question marks about his role at AC Milan.
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According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Ibrahimovic has no scheduled commitments with Milan, despite the potentially busy summer with a shake-up in the management imminent. Instead, the RedBird senior advisor will be busy with other things.
The paper writes that Zlatan’s gigs have ‘nothing to do with AC Milan and everything to do with promoting himself’. He will be a commentator for Fox Sports at the World Cup and will therefore in the United States for the entire tournament, so about 40 days.
Of course, he could also take an interest in Milan matters from America, but his prolonged absence from Milan suggests that’s not his priority. Yesterday, Zlatan surprisingly announced a foray into the world of boxing in a post on his social media channels.
“Breaking news! See you on August 1st in Dublin,” the post read, complete with photos of him face-to-face with English heavyweight Tyson Fury, as if a fight in the ring between the two was on the cards.
What is Ibra doing?
Fury’s manager, Frank Warren, has scheduled a fight for the IBO super-lightweight world title between Irish champion Pierce O’Leary and Mark Chamberlain on August 1st in Dublin. For now, however, a fight for the ‘Gypsy King’ is not scheduled, as he’s scheduled to face Anthony Joshua in November.
What does Ibrahimovic have to do with it? Good question. Ibra holds a black belt in taekwondo, loves combat sports, and undoubtedly has a physique that would be the envy of the rest of the world. Yet, he doesn’t seem credible as a challenger to Fury in the ring, not even in an exhibition.
Zlatan has expressed his admiration for Fury in the past, such as in 2021, when he sent a video message to the Morecambe-born boxer to boost him ahead of his third match against Deontay Wilder. The two have long held a close esteem, in other words.
It’s worth remembering that Ibrahimovic isn’t a Milan employee, but a partner of RedBird. He can therefore make his own decisions. Like earlier in the week, when the news broke that Zlatan had officially joined K-Sport, an Italian technology company specialising in sports performance analytics.
He will become a Global Ambassador and Anchor Investor for them, ‘providing his international profile to support the brand’s expansion in key markets such as Europe, the United States, and Asia’, according to the press release.
Milan also support K-Sport (as do many other clubs, including Inter, Roma and Napoli). “Throughout my career, I’ve always been very selective about the projects I invest my time in: K-Sport is the sports-tech company I’ve chosen to support,” the Swede quoted.
It’s curious that Ibrahimovic himself talks about time. It’s just what he’d need if he wanted to give his actual input to the new Milan.