Zlatan is a ‘lion’ amid ‘kittens’ at AC Milan as club legend says ‘I am the boss’ after role doubts
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was in typical form as he explained his new role on his return to AC Milan, claiming “when the lion comes back, the kittens disappear”.
Ibrahimovic scored 93 goals in 163 games across two spells at Milan, ending his playing days with the Serie A side at the end of the 2022/2023 season having also represented Inter Milan, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United in a trophy-laden career spanning over two decades.
He was welcomed back to Milan in December 2023 by the club’s owners RedBird Capital as a senior advisor and was asked by the Amazon Prime panel ahead of Liverpool’s clash with the Italian side to clarify his role.
“The role is simple, many talk. I am in command, I am the boss and all the rest works for me,” Ibrahimovic said with a smile, to the great amusement of Frank Lampard, Daniel Sturridge and Clarence Seedorf.
Former club director Zvonimir Boba has been critical of Ibrahmovic’s work and in response the Swede said: “When the lion goes away, the kittens arrive. When the lion comes back, the kittens disappear.
“The level is very low, there is too much talk but I only think about working.
“I was away for personal reasons, but I have been here since day one.”
Milan finished second in Serie A last season but 19 points behind bitter city rivals Inter after winning just one of their last seven league games.
Criticism from the fans has been aimed chiefly at the club’s directors but Ibrahimovic is happy with the business they conducted over the summer.
“It went exactly as we wanted, everything we looked for and was missing we got,” he added. “The last one was [Tammy] Abraham, to provide an extra reinforcement in attack.”
Milan also signed Youssouf Fofana, Strahinja Pavlovic, Emerson Royal and Alvaro Morata in the summer, but the additions have made little difference to their form, with Milan only earning their first win of the season on Sunday, with a 4-0 win over Venezia, after draws with Lazio and Torino and a defeat to Parma.
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And it gets no easier for Milan with the derby against Inter to come on Sunday.
Christian Pulisic gave Milan the lead against Liverpool but Arne Slot’s side came back to claim a comfortable 3-1 win at the San Siro.
Manager Paolo Fonseca claimed after the game that his side “stopped playing” after they went behind.
Fonseca said: “We played against Liverpool, who are a huge team. We started well, both attacking and defending, but then we conceded two goals from set plays that changed the game.
“We lost our mental balance because when the team lacks confidence, we develop problems and don’t do what we prepared in training. I told the players, you cannot make those mistakes in this kind of game.
“At the same time, I have to admit Liverpool are more of a team right now than we are, we need to keep working to have not 20 good minutes, but 70, 80, 90 minutes playing our football. After we conceded the second goal, the team stopped playing, and it became difficult after that.”
