Igli Tare and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. From today, the two will start sharing the same spaces, the same environment, the same operational meetings, although with very different roles. But what will be (or can be) their relationship? The passage of weeks will bring clarity to this aspect, but it can be started without a doubt by saying that, at first glance, no possible criticisms emerge beforehand. Also because Tare and Ibra come from two worlds that have not had special connections. Except on the field, of course.
ACCESS
There is an indisputable common ground: both center forwards, both with strong character, both crazy about goals, both extremely serious in their approach to the profession. But there are other points in common: for example, the fact that both began their managerial careers immediately after saying goodbye to playing football. Lotito immediately convinced Taren to sit behind a table, and Cardinale did the same with Ibrahimovic. What separates them, if one can say so, is age. Practically a generation: Igli was born in 1973, Ibra in 1981.
The former retired from football in 2008, less than a month before his 35th birthday, the latter defied football immortality by retiring – with great difficulty – at the age of 41. When Igli was retiring, Ibra was winning the title and the top scorer award with Inter. This is the great time gap that sets them apart in their current professions: Tare is an experienced sports director, seasoned by a demanding and complex employer like Lotito, while Ibra is a novice in the learning phase, coming out of a season of much suffering both professionally and personally, linked more to the ownership of the club than to the club itself.
respect
The two, however, have always essentially respected each other, perhaps recognizing themselves in each other in terms of a common vision for the work. Demanding people, who believe in discipline and who demand a lot, but at the same time offer support. The first time they met in their new roles was in London at the beginning of March, when Tare, Cardinale and Ibrahimovic sat down for the first time around the same table to understand if they could share a common journey. Since then, many things have changed within Milan.
The season, already complicated by then, has finally ended in crisis and one of the side effects has been the almost total public disappearance of Ibrahimovic. The Swede remains sitting in his chair as super-advisor of the red and black world, but the balances within Milan will have to be reformulated and especially clarified. Especially now that a new manager is arriving, with very specific tasks. The two former center-forwards are preparing to face each other again, this time in suits under the same roof.