In Frosinone, the match point was the right-footed volley of the relentless Luka Jovic, the Serbian goal scorer whose career seems like a chart of discontinuity but is currently going through a phase of resurgence.
Three months ago, however, AC Milan flirted with the idea of having Novak Djokovic, the world number one in tennis and a fellow countryman of Jovic, as one of Stefano Pioli's available assets.
Gerry Cardinale, the majority shareholder of the club, reportedly contemplated bringing Djokovic on board as a consultant, possibly entrusting him with the role of a luxury mental coach during the intervals between major tournaments, serving as a motivator for the team that was struggling at that time.
Rumours from Milanese financial circles suggest that the current leader of the ATP circuit, a declared Milan fan and friend of Jannik Sinner, had been identified as a potential occasional collaborator.
Motivational speeches are a classic in North American professional sports, with numerous examples portrayed in cinema, from Al Pacino in "Any Given Sunday" and beyond. Djokovic's undeniable charisma, often described as a personal friend by Cardinale himself, might not have been surprising if the American entertainment manager, a firm advocate of the profitable blend of top-level sports, had persuaded Djokovic to join his partners, such as NBA star LeBron James and former wrestler Dwayne Johnson, now an equally famous actor, also known for his role in the Fast & Furious saga.
Djokovic has never failed to publicly express his passion for AC Milan, regularly attending San Siro whenever possible and greeting players of his beloved team. The video of his encounter with Leao during the ATP Finals in Turin last November became viral. However, Djokovic's busy tennis schedule would have made the proposal impractical, remaining at this point a mere suggestion, perhaps to be reconsidered in the future.
In the meantime, Cardinale's closest football consultant has become Zlatan Ibrahimovic, whose return to Milanello is likely connected to Jovic's resurgence. Jovic has always declared Ibrahimovic as his idol and role model. Regarding motivators, one could not find a better one for the striker who arrived from Fiorentina.
Against Frosinone, he scored his fourth decisive goal out of the five he has netted in this season. It is also the fourth goal scored coming off the bench, all in equivalent game segments of exactly 90 minutes, including injury time: one goal every 22 and a half minutes, an exceptional average that led Pioli to predict a not too distant future as a starter for Jovic.
Source: Repubblica
