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AC Milan are heading for a very important summer as things stand, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be right at the centre of a lot of the big moves made.

This morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes that Ibrahimovic is everywhere. He is at Milanello, where yesterday his handshake with Theo Hernandez was spotted on camera, as well as in the stands to watch games, in the dressing rooms and even travelling abroad for commercial initiatives.

The Swede is, above all, at the heart of the ‘team’ of directors who are designing the future of the club, and it is here that he will play a crucial role with one objective: to bring Milan back to the top. He works with CEO Giorgio Furlani plus technical director Geoffrey Moncada and sporting director Antonio D’Ottavio.

The plan will not deviate much from the recent past: the aim is to focus on young players, who they can sign for figures that match up with what their data analysis suggests. But what plans specifically does Ibra have?

The reinforcements

The summer mercato will revolve around a number: the No.9 which Giroud will vacate in June. Ibrahimovic will inevitably have a say in the matter, and it will be difficult to find anyone more suitable than him to direct the club’s direction in terms of centre-forwards.

Here, Zlatan has already shown the thumbs up: Joshua Zirkzee is his main candidate to take over Giroud’s legacy. Among all the names on Milan’s list – from Sesko to Guirassy, ​​from David to Gimenez – the Dutchman from Bologna is the one who reminds him of himself.

He has that creativity, vision of game and the character to play at San Siro. When Zirzkee played and scored at the Rossoneri’s home in January, he did so under Zlatan’s eyes: for someone like that it is possible to invest a sum that has never been invested in the past.

Now that Inter have entered the race for Zirkzee, it will be interesting to understand Milan’s countermoves. Ibra, who as a footballer was used to dealing with clubs ready to move mountains to sign him, will be able to assist the club in choosing the timing.

This article first appeared on SempreMilan and was syndicated with permission.

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