With almost everyone else cleaned out, there remains one figure who will guide a lot of the key decisions at AC Milan: Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
La Gazzetta dello Sport begin a report by stating that Ibrahimovic shouldn’t be considered a Milan director, but a shareholder and partner of RedBird Capital. Gerry Cardinale chose him when the Swede ended his playing career, involving him in the project and offering him shares in the fund.
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So, Ibrahimovic isn’t formally a part of management team, but is a senior advisor to the club. With Elliott out of the picture, this is RedBird’s true ‘year zero’. Zlatan is and will be crucial, especially in immediate sporting decisions.
Put simply, Ibra has a say in the choice of the new coach and the coaching staff, and he even discussed the matter last night at dinner with Cardinale. This is also because he’s currently the only RedBird figure with a background in football.
However, that’s not the only reason Cardinale has such complete faith in Zlatan. Gerry particularly appreciates the eagerness to learn of his partner, a former top-flight striker but new to the managerial scene.
Zlatan takes the reins
Ibrahimovic is not a director at Milan. What that means is he isn’t required to directly involve himself in the club’s day-to-day affairs. He did so in the past, such as in 2024-25 when he personally involved himself in the mercato and daily affairs at Milanello, but that was more to fill a void.
This situation, however, shouldn’t happen again. Milan are intent on finding a CEO (keep an eye on Liverpool’s Michael Edwards), a technical director and a sporting director. This means Ibrahimovic will also be able to focus on other related activities, such as his commitment to Fox Sports for the World Cup.
Before leaving for the States, however, Ibrahimovic will help Cardinale and Massimo Calvelli – another important figure – shape the future of Milan. Then, we will see who he leaves the keys to before his 40-day commitments in the USA, with a number of sporting director candidates.
Milan is Maldini. Not a gitano.
¡I’m out!
Like My old friend used to Say Zlatan represents ‘ Les Midtables’
Goodbye, take care!
And don’t let the door hit you on the way out kid.
Emirate airline: “Oooh… No, another fan gone. Damn it milan, i will pay less next contract shirt sponsor.”
Iraola’s teams Rayo and Bournemouth don’t have a very good defensive record. They’ve let in 46 goals in one season as best and 67 as worst. The rest of the seasons it more than 50 goals per season. All in the leagues.
That is not good enough for Milan, is it?
Does Ibra even check the stats?
With all due respect, I think Milan boast better players than a Rayo or Bournemouth. So it’s worth a try given what he’s done with teams such as the aforementioned. He was also very competitive against la liga and PL top sides, especially Barca, Liverpool and Arsenal.
Bring in Maldini….
Everyone is jumping on Ibra but it seems to me he saw same thing everyone did with Allegri – terrible futbol, terrible coaching and unwillingness to change things when they weren’t working. Allegri thinks his old tactics still work today but they do not. Milan fall apart in the second half of the season, lost many games they should have won and scored very little. I would love Maldini to come back but that is not happening with Cardinale in charge so let Ibra cook and see what he does. Last season he didn’t have much say as Furlani was making all the decisions.
And what did he see with Fonseca when he directly sabotaged him right from the start? Come on, man, stop defending the guy, he needs to go FAR AWAY…
Fonseca was hired because there was no one else available for the cheap price Furlani allowed – you read too much into articles written by dumb people. Anyway, Ibra isn’t going anywhere so that’s that. He will be judged on his work going forward without Furlani breathing down his neck. I am not defending him, just stating the facts – he wasn’t allowed to do what he wanted perhaps so you can’t judge him by that.
“cheap price Furlani allowed” “you read too much into articles written by dumb people”
And where did you come up with “cheap price”? You made it up. It’s because you’re highly intelligent so you have to make up the most stupid sh*t on the planet? Even Ibrahimovic said publicly why they hired him, but let’s lie.
“We want a coach, not a manager.” Zlatan Ibrahimovic, June 2024.
Your user name is MAX – that explains everything we need to know. LOL
This site is full of “know it alls” who really don’t have a clue, just tough behind their keyboard.
We need people who really love milan not love for the money like we had maldini berlusconi etc so get rid of ibra as well and bring people who really are responsible for their job
I’m not reading into any article, I heard him say some things (one thing was more than enough), you should pay attention if you want to have a serious conversation and a serious discussion…
Well said.
Maybe your problem will remain all season long because Cardinale and Ibra won’t go anywhere.
I don’t know why people try to shift the blame on Ibra. He confronted Allegri a couple of times about his style of playing and how he kept using Pulisic, Leao, and others out of position with no concrete results. Furlani didn’t listen to him in the case of Nkunkou. People try to make him pay for his ego and his association with Cardinale. You won’t see Maldini back. Just get over it.
Another red turd spokesperson, this is great. I don’t have a problem but I see you clearly do, I pitty you.
I agree my friend!
No, ibra is the devil, he is_no_good for AC MILAN, bloody arrogant iznogoud with a big shark-nose.
You can dislike Zlatan all you want, but calling him “the devil” is just childish.
Arrogant? Sure, Zlatan has always had a huge personality. But pretending he did nothing good for AC Milan is ridiculous. He helped bring the club back to relevance, helped win the Scudetto, and gave the team mentality and leadership when Milan desperately needed it.
You don’t have to love him, but at least be honest about what he contributed instead of turning it into personal insults.
He even looks like a devil. Separate what he did as a player from this horrible and humiliating work of his as part of the management structure, two antipodes.
So Cardinale undergoes another revamp just save himself and decides to remove the entire team when in actual fact he and Ibra are the problem. So Cardinale you have saved yourself once again but for how long….LEAVE NOW!!!!!
Even the supposedly serious articles by Italian media sound like sarcasm. We are the joke of the football world. And it’s thanks to these two ego maniacs who are probably lovers as well.
Let Ibra work. We ALL saw how crappy Allegri’s football is. It was never going to win a championship. Ibra is a champ and he will work something out.
What drugs are you on?
I agree, now we can see if he have what it takes!
*if he has
The cancer is Ibra..there fixed your caption for you!
Ibra is a buffoon, great player but horrible manager. He stabbed in the back Maldini and Allegri. Until Ibra and Cardinale are gone, Ac Milan will be a disaster. So we should stop buying season tickets, attending games at San Siro and buying merchandise. If we do that, within a year both Ibra and Cardinale will be gone.
It’s hard to take seriously any project Ibra headlines, unless its a feline exhibit at the zoo.
Bernard Arnault please buy the team!
Ok a weird way it might work in his favour as being one with mostly all the power. Too many cooks were in the kitchen if we were to be honest. That being said, his track record ain’t great.
Here we are 🍿🍿🍿🍿🥤
But will it be in this way ?
We’re “supposed” to hire a new CEO, a new SD, coach,… so that means the mayhem and lack of a clear structure might still come to haunt us.
I presume Ibra would be acting as the sd with additional power due to his role with Redbird but yes all the other roles would need to be filled. The CEO just doesn’t need to meddle in sporting and transfer matters. I think the roles were too murky in the prior setup.
Btw that’s me being super optimistic
I carry the same concern that you have
Granting Ibrahimovic such absolute authority by RedBird and Gerry Cardinale is not merely a tribute to his history, but a tactical move with specific dimensions: providing “sporting legitimacy” for the American ownership. Cardinale understands that after selling star players and offloading Italian talent, he is now directly confronting the anger of the fans and the dressing room. Having Ibrahimovic at the forefront as a “guide and architect of decisions” gives the management a protective shield from the fans.
Charisma and Locker Room Authority، After news of player frustration and anger over management decisions, no one in the world of football is as capable of reining in stars like Rafael Leão and bringing them back into line with the club as Ibrahimovic. His presence is enough to impose immediate stability.
Winning Mentality Zlatan does not accept compromises.
Well said!
In Ibra We Trust!!!
Speak for yourself.
A legend on the field…But not sure he should have the keys to anything important off it.
Ibra must have invest some money in the company… that’s why he survived. I think he is the downfall of Milan not Allegri. It really sad that I watch Milan going this way. For Milan to survived they need big investment on players. Look at MU which finally spend a lot and the result is finally showing. As long as they just keep paying cheap and hopefully it will pay off… Milan won’t survived next season.
It was Carrick that saved their season. Not spending money.
Know why? Because he knows what it means to be a player for Man U. He bought that fire back.
We need that at every level.
Yes, but without those players they signed last summer “the fire” would be out. It goes hand in hand. They bought their whole forward line, 3 players x 75M€.
Let him cook. We can all laugh later.
If only that were (genuine) laughter and not another cry of pain and bitterness..