Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the Senior Advisor for RedBird Capital at AC Milan, shared his thoughts during a press conference following the presentation of new signing Santiago Gimenez. The Swedish legend offered a comprehensive overview of Milan’s recent transfer activities and the club’s current situation.
Transfer Window Reflections
Ibrahimovic began by discussing the acquisition of Gimenez: “We followed Gimenez this summer. We had tried and talked a bit, at the time it couldn’t be done so we turned to other targets. What’s important is that he’s here today. I’ll let him speak because they say I put too much pressure on players, so I’ll leave the floor to him.”
Regarding the intense final day of the transfer window, Ibrahimovic stated, “It was a very intense day, but always under control. I must thank the lawyers and the secretariat because they did a great job, but we closed everything we wanted to close. We’re not satisfied with the league position, we’ve strengthened the team with 5 players out and 5 coming in, we’ve changed role for role and we’re satisfied. This will be the team that changes the current situation.”
Team Improvements and Expectations
When asked about closing the gap with other teams, Ibrahimovic was cautiously optimistic: “Have we reduced the quality gap? We’ve strengthened the team, then we’ll see. What we believe is that we’ve really reinforced the squad.”
Addressing the team’s inconsistency, he noted, “Continuity was lacking. When things are going well and you can’t keep up the pace, especially in victories, it’s a problem. There was always a block after a few wins that gave confidence. We’ve had high moments and low moments, then at least for now we’re the only ones who have a trophy. Imagine if it had gone better…”
New Signings and Team Dynamics
Ibrahimovic praised the quality of the squad Gimenez is joining: “Gimenez finds a very strong Milan, Leao, Pulisic, Fofana, Walker, they all have a lot of quality, there are many who can assist him, don’t worry.”
He also drew an interesting comparison between Gimenez and young talent Camarda: “He has great quality and hunger to score goals. He reminds me of Camarda, he has a great desire to score goals. His best quality is inside the penalty area, but he can help the team a lot. He’s here to bring victories and trophies.”
Looking Ahead
On the upcoming match against Gimenez’s former club Feyenoord, Ibrahimovic confidently predicted, “It was better to win against Dinamo Zagreb so we wouldn’t do the playoffs. Fate then put Gimenez in front of his ex-club. It happened to me many times, he will play in Rotterdam with the Milan shirt and score.”
Ibrahimovic concluded with a characteristic quip about his new role: “The comparison with Galliani? No, as I said, it was all very complicated and dynamic. I worked a lot with Raiola and today I really understood how strong Mino was compared to many others.”
