There is no exact science in football. You can have been a great player, but not have the leadership fiber. Just as you can become one of the best coaches on the planet, having dragged out a modest playing career. As for the case of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, it is certainly still too early to draw conclusions, but as things stand, we would still lean more towards the first option. Inducted last December as “special advisor to the majority shareholder of AC Milan“, RedBird, the former Parisian now has a leading role as a technical reference.
Internal decision-making power, determination of the club’s priority targets on the market, influence on the future of its coach… All these decisions are now at the discretion of Ibra and his teams. Suffice to say that the 42-year-old man is taking on a fairly broad role, with all the responsibilities that this entails. But until when? According to information from the RepublicIbra’s future would now be threatened in Lombardy. Recently, the Swedish star had seen his credit run out again, after his video shot with the famous American YouTuber, IShowSpeed, centered around an unfortunate homophobic gag, when Milan started its season in disorder at the same time. This event would have precisely irritated the entourage of Gerry Cardinale, owner of Red Bird and majority shareholder of the club.
A behavior that raises questions, between revenge and cronyism
Other internal episodes have since fuelled a more general discontent with the Swede’s attitude, such as these suspicions of revenge. Last season, his friend and former teammate Ignazio Abate, then coach of the Primavera, reportedly did not offer much playing time to his eldest son, Maximilian. This summer, Abate left the club, and his father, who was the Primavera’s goalkeeping coach, was sent to the women’s team, before being fired. Internally, Ibrahimovic’s responsibility for this decision is being questioned. Furthermore, the former Parisian’s repeated absences from Milanello continue to cause some gnashing of teeth.
Rumor has it that Ibra would be more at the Vismara training center, where his youngest son, Vincent, plays, than at Milan. In addition, the decision to sign a first professional contract with Maximilian Ibrahimovic, rather than Francesco Camarda, considered the biggest talent in the Rossoneri academy, would not have left the club indifferent. Moreover, Camarda had recently made headlines for liking a post critical of Ibra. Cronyism would also be one of the other grievances attributed to the former player. Recently, his friend met during his time at Los Angeles FC, Jovan Kirovski, was thus appointed head of Milan’s under-23s, even though he had no experience of European football… And it is not Ibra’s vacation, while AC Milan was struggling at the start of the season, that should allow him to regain credibility in the eyes of his superiors and supporters…
