Igli Tare is officially AC Milan's new sporting director. His work immediately starts at the club's headquarters as there is a lot to do in order to prepare for the next season. He will report directly to CEO Giorgio Furlani and also work closely with Swedish advisor Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
But what kind of relationship will (or could) they have?
As the weeks go by, things will become clearer in this regard, but one can certainly begin by saying that, at first glance, no potential issues seem to emerge a priori. Also because Tare and Ibra come from two worlds that haven't had any particular connections. Except on the pitch, of course.
There, there is an undeniable common starting point: both were center-forwards, both had strong personalities, both were obsessed with scoring goals, both were extremely serious in their approach to the profession. But there are also other things they share: for example, the fact that they began their managerial careers immediately after saying goodbye to playing football, as pointed out by those at Gazzetta.
Lazio president, Claudio Lotito quickly convinced Tare to settle behind a desk, and Cardinale did the same with Ibrahimovic. What separates them, if anything, is their age. Practically a generation: Igli was born in '73, Ibra in '81. The former stopped playing in 2008, less than a month before his 35th birthday; the latter challenged footballing immortality, retiring—with great difficulty—at 41. When Igli stopped, Ibra was winning the league title and the top scorer award with Inter. That is the major time gap that separates them in their current professions: Tare is an experienced sporting director, forged by a demanding and complex boss like Lotito, while Ibra is a newcomer still in a learning phase, coming off a season of great professional and even personal difficulty, and tied to the club’s ownership rather than the club itself.
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Tare and Ibrahimovic - Mutual respect.
The two, in any case, have always had mutual respect, likely recognizing in each other the same vision of work. Demanding people, who believe in discipline and expect a lot, but at the same time offer support. The first time they saw each other in their new roles was in London in early March, when Tare, Cardinale, and Ibra sat around the same table for the first time to try to understand whether they could share a path. Since then, several things have changed within Milan. The season, already complicated at that time, definitively unraveled, and one of the side effects has been the near-total public disappearance of Ibrahimovic. The Swede remains seated in his super-consultant chair within the Rossoneri world, but the internal balance at Milan will need to be reshaped and, above all, clarified—especially now that a new executive is arriving, with very specific responsibilities. The two former center-forwards are about to find themselves under the same roof, wearing suits and ties.
