AC Milan are set to go for an Italian relaunch this summer, prompting further question marks about Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s future.
La Gazzetta dello Sport report that Ibrahimovic didn’t even show up at Milanello yesterday morning to watch the team train and, regardless of what he decides to do today and Sunday evening for the Napoli away game, it seems obvious his role at the club will change.
Three-week absence
RedBird’s Senior Advisor was not seen at Milanello during the international break, but he was not there on the eve of the home match against Como either. He was forced to watch the match on TV due to a nasty flu.
However, Zlatan must have recovered now and his possible continued absence from the Rossoneri’s training ground should be explained by other reasons. It is undeniable that the balance at the management level is changing within the club.
Indeed, it has changed after the trip to the United States by CEO Giorgio Furlani, who will fully exercise the power of his position. In essence, he will make decisions on the management of the club, in all areas, including the sporting one.
It is no coincidence that he is the one who is pushing forward with the choice of the new sporting director after Zlatan had initially had the first interviews in London together with Gerry Cardinale. If the candidate chosen by Furlani is endorsed by Cardinale, the situation will be even clearer.
In the meantime, all that remains is to wait for Ibrahimovic’s next moves: from his possible presence today at Milanello, to his participation in the trip to Naples, plus a possible desire to speak before or after a match on TV.
Italian future
By the end of the season, therefore, many things will be clearer also because the next campaign must be planned at a management level before this one ends. And now a direction has been taken: the new sporting director must have in-depth experience of Serie A and dressing room management.
Foreign candidates are not ruled out a priori because interviews are also scheduled with them, but let’s say that they have much smaller possibilities than their Italian colleagues or those with several seasons of experience in Serie A.
This is why Fabio Paratici, Igli Tare and Tony D’Amico are very popular names. The new director will have an important weight in the decisions of the future that will remain collective, and therefore will be taken after a consultation with Moncada and Furlani. With the latter naturally having a greater specific weight.
And the coach will also be Italian, better if with a winning past behind him. In short, a coach who is not a gamble, who has lifted important trophies and who is a guide to follow for the group. Which didn’t happen at the beginning of this season with Fonseca.
Transfer market
Speaking of the squad, pay attention to the market because if in the last two sessions only one Italian player has arrived and on loan (Riccardo Sottil in January from Fiorentina), so from next summer more attention will be paid to the Italian market.
They want to give a stronger identity to the dressing room, also for a question related to the UEFA squad list, an issue that will arise if Milan gains access to the European competitions of 2025-26, but which will in any case have repercussions also in view of the future.
Big investments could be made on players like Pietro Comuzzo. The Rossoneri priority is in other departments, but the defender – called up by Luciano Spalletti for the national team – is very popular. He is not the only Italian under the magnifying glass for next season in via Aldo Rossi.
