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Mino Raiola: Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Serie A Return No Certainty amid Milan Rumours
December 8, 2019
Zlatan Ibrahimovic's agent Mino Raiola has said his client isn't guaranteed to end up in Serie A after the Swede fueled rumours of a return to AC Milan earlier this week.
Per AS, Raiola told Gazzetta dello Sport the veteran's switch to Milan, Napoli or Bologna is not a foregone conclusion, and even retirement isn't completely off the table:
"It's not been said that he will necessarily return to Italy. Which of the three interested clubs will he choose? Who knows, we're all free men.
"Could he retire? I'm not going to exclude anything but it is very unlikely. Ibra is still very well.
"Certainly if he returned, the appeal of Serie A would increase, both technically and on television. How many countries would turn on the TV every weekend?"
It was the 38-year-old himself who appeared to indicate he would return to the peninsula in an interview with GQ Italy earlier this week:
The full quote (h/t Corriere della Sera, via Football Italia) seemed to hint at a return to AC Milan, with the Swede saying he will join a club that must get back to winning.
Ibrahimovic played for Milan between 2010 and 2012 and also had stints with Juventus and Inter Milan. Other clubs he has represented include Malmo, Ajax, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United.
He most recently played for L.A. Galaxy in MLS, where he showed he can still be an effective option up front:
Since announcing his departure from the team at the end of the season, he's been linked with a whole host of clubs, most commonly Italian. He also courted controversy by becoming part-owner of Swedish side Hammarby, a rival of his former club Malmo.
Per ESPN, Malmo fans reacted by setting a statue of him on fire. They also hung a toilet seat off it and vandalised his house in Stockholm:
He's also been linked with former club United, but Red Devils manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said such a move is unlikely.