Ibrahimovic lifts lid on retirement and Milan return: 'An offer I couldn’t refuse'

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has given a long interview about how difficult it was to call time on his playing career and why he decided to return to AC Milan under RedBird Capital.

At the end of last season Ibrahimovic said an emotional goodbye in front of a packed San Siro after the final game of the season against Hellas Verona, formally retiring from professional football after a long and decorated career.

However, that ‘goodbye’ did not last long as he returned to Milan as a Senior Advisor to Gerry Cardinale and his fund RedBird Capital, who are the owners of the club and have been for a couple of years now.

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 as a working group, who have some big decisions to make this summer.

Ibrahimovic spoke on Anas Bukhash’s podcast ABTalks and it was a fascinating episode in which he shed light on his upbringing, desire to become a footballer, family life and more.

 How are you really doing?

“I’m good, life is good, life is treating me good. Obviously I stopped players football eight months ago, I have a different life now, I accepted stopping playing football which was a difficult thing because of my ego, because of the way I think about myself.

“I think I’m the best, I’m still the best, I could continue… but I chose to stop. Why did I choose to stop? Because I want a good life for my family. I wanted to be able to do things with my sons, because my consequence was that I would not be able to do things with my sons because I had problems with one of my knees.

“So I accepted it, I came to a moment where I said ‘it’s ok, let it go and start a new chapter in your life’. Then a couple of months later I met Gerry Cardinale who controls the RedBird fund that bought Milan, and he gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

“I started to work with AC Milan and I’ve been with AC Milan three or four months, and he’s treating me good I have to say.”

What was it like for you when Mino Raiola passed away?

“When my agent Mino Raiola passed away, it was a big hit for me. I cried until the last airdrop finished. It’s still not finished because sometimes I get flashbacks.

“It brings me down in a way that I miss him too much. Everybody that knows him and me understands how close we were. If I could text him now and he would read it? I miss you.”

What is your relationship with your wife Helena Seger like?

“She always tells me ‘remember who took care of you before you started taking care of the family’. She gave up her career for me because I chose for it to be that way. She has gone through everything she has done, she gave everything to me and gave everything up for me.

“I don’t think you should have a big ego in a relationship, that you stand above someone else. I think it should be 50/50, of course she takes more responsibility in some areas and in other areas I take more responsibility.

“But the key to our relationship is that we have tried to live as normally as possible. The only help we have is a cleaner!”

Together you have children Maximilian, 17, and Vincent, 16…

“People may think we are a family that lives a luxurious life, but she does the washing, she cooks. The only help we have is a cleaner. I drive the kids to school, I pick them up from practice like a normal family and that’s how we’ve chosen to have it.

“In the whole school [in Beverly Hills], only my children cycled to school. The other families had nannies who dropped off and picked up the children, or a driver. That’s not who we are.

“I leave and pick up the children, if I can’t, she (Helena) does it. When they have homework I help them, if I can’t she does it. A normal family, with unusual opportunities.”