The 39-year-old is helping his lesser-known friends establish themselves as they face Rossoneri’s Serie A title challenge
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is like an umbrella at AC Milan, according to Chief Ivan Gazidis – sheltering younger players from outside pressure and helping them develop.
The Swedish striker has undergone a transformational impact since his return to San Siro, with Milan top of the Serie A table as the New Year approaches.
Ibrahimovic is Milan’s top scorer with 10 goals for his name this season but younger players like Jens Petter Hauge, Brahim Diaz and Rafael Leao have made important contributions.
“For me, it was a big challenge to come back here to try to change the mindset, try to change the situation and make the players understand what Milan was all about,” Ibrahimovic said recently. UEFA.
“When I play, I bring my character, my personality and obviously my quality on the pitch. I put a lot of pressure on my teammates, I try to get the most out of each of them. ”
For Gazidis, Ibrahimovic ‘s presence has been a real treat.
“What I am really excited about is the leadership we are showing, not only in Zlatan which is clearly an umbrella for all the players, it feels comfortable holding pressure and helping young players to grow, ”he said Sky Sports. “Zlatan continues to call himself Benjamin Button, continuing to regenerate.
“It’s very interesting, all the players who come to Milan want to win something and this will be a legacy that Zlatan leaves because he has won so much in football and it would be easy to live on his salary and enjoying his life there is nothing left to prove.
“But he came here to understand the significance of our challenge. He is a different player than he was ten years ago; It won’t run as fast as it once did, but there are ten players around it ready to run. ”
The apparent rebirth of Milan, of course, was not only the result of Ibrahimovic ‘s hard work, and Gazidis also wanted to pay homage to coach Stefano Pioli.
“It was great to bring all these players together, with real unity and a common goal. We’re playing a cause, attacking football; we’ve scored at least two goals. in the last 14 or 15 games. “