La Gazzetta dello Sport speaks of 19 days of absence and silence following the interview that Ibrahimovic gave to GQ, but the return of the Swedish director is expected tomorrow at Milanello, in view of Sunday’s trip to face Napoli.
In the meantime, the CEO Giorgio Furlani flew to Gerry Cardinale’s American offices to reiterate (and above all to have the owner reiterate) his supremacy over the choices. Nonetheless, Zlatan is expected at Milanello between today and tomorrow. Without certainties given that Ibra’s agenda remains in constant evolution.
With less exposure and a new sporting director with extensive influences, Ibrahimovic could review his role. Today he is the Senior Advisor of RedBird, that is, of the ownership, without a defined role certified by the club’s organisational chart.
Or he could want to take back the front row of the stage, as he had done in recent weeks when he was the one – with Cardinale – to evaluate the profiles of the candidates for the role of sporting director.
Zlatan had been present in London in a series of meetings. Then, however, it was remembered that for the signatures, and therefore for each final choice, the pen remains in the hands of the CEO.
For Ibra, it quickly went from a time of pre and post-match interviews and presentations of the new arrivals in January to a time away that was only partly justified by a strong flu.
In the meantime, the Swede will return to the sports center to follow the training and stay close to Conceiçao and the team. Despite his role as consultant also spanning the non-sporting interests of the fund, he knows the timing and dynamics of the group.
He knows how to relate to his former teammates, or how to approach and motivate the younger ones in view of a challenging finale. Whether Zlatan will accompany the group on the trip to Napoli is too early to say.
Of course, he also wants to contribute with a push to relaunch the team: it is the main reason why he will return to Milanello, a day or two after the visit of CEO Furlani.
In addition to the first team, Milan Futuro also falls within Ibra’s radius of action, involved in Group B of Serie C in a very difficult fight for survival. Another field on which Zlatan has used up energy.
