Milan’s owner, Gerry Cardinale, was present alongside Rossoneri executive and former striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic at the FT’s Business of Football Summit held in Mayfair on Thursday. During the event, Cardinale delineated Ibrahimovic’s precise role and responsibilities subsequent to his appointment as a Senior Advisor in December.
Ibrahimovic returned to Milan just ahead of Christmas in an advisory capacity; however, the comprehensive scope of his day-to-day obligations has not always been fully elucidated.
Cardinale disclosed that Ibrahimovic serves effectively as his representative and possesses the authority to provide directives to club personnel in Cardinale’s absence.
Moreover, Cardinale drew parallels between Ibrahimovic and prominent figures such as LeBron James and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, both of whom have collaborated with executives from RedBird Capital previously.
“Ibrahimovic is my guy on the ground in Milan, he has the authority to be my voice with the players, with the coaching staff and at Casa Milan. Getting to know Ibra well was one of the benefits of taking almost a year to evaluate the situation,” Cardinale said, reported via Calciomercato.com.
“When I met Zlatan, I was really intrigued. He is a great team player and if you manage to introduce teamwork into the business world, you can do bigger and better things.
“When clubs are bought, they usually rely on lots of different consultants, but who knows Milan and European football better than Zlatan? We have a proven track record of partnerships with people like him, from Dwayne Johnson to LeBron James, also Ben Affleck and Matt Damon . And, in Zlatan, I see the same thing.”