Milan CEO Giorgio Furlani spoke about the ‘conversations’ with Zlatan Ibrahimovic regarding his return, the new Champions League format and the status of the new stadium project.
The Rossoneri have held multiple meetings with the former striker in recent weeks as they work to bring him back to the club, believing he could be a useful member of Stefano Pioli’s setup.
In the meantime, Milan have started to move forward with their new stadium project in the San Donato area of the city and are now pushing to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League after their vital win over Paris Saint-Germain.
Speaking to Radio Serie A via MilanNews.it, Furlani first discussed the importance of Milan’s win over PSG.
“We try not to get too excited with victories and not to get depressed with defeats, what counts is the project in the medium to long term. There is unity of purpose among everyone.
“Winning in the Champions League is pleasant and important, I hope it draws a line. A victory against the richest team in Europe and one of the strongest makes us particularly happy.”
He spoke about the impact of the Growth Decree law, which provides tax benefits to new signings from abroad.
“In recent years we have seen how Italian football is regaining competitiveness, in a context where there are several unwritten rules that make us uncompetitive, such as the impossibility of stadiums or the difficulties with contracts.
“The Growth Decree is the only rule that helps us, because it allows us to attract talent that, in fact, as Italian teams we could not afford. At the level of the country’s economy, moreover, it seems to me to be madness to go against the Growth Decree.
“Having talent and advancing in Europe means having a greater share in global television rights, increasing sponsors, and so on. Declining hundreds of millions of euros coming into the country seems crazy to me.
“The big clubs are looking at new stadiums, the country needs them and they would be financed entirely by foreign capital.”
The Milan CEO provided an update on the new stadium project.
“We are moving forward on the project in San Donato, the target for us is to be ready at the end of 2028 with a new stadium.
“I say this date biting my tongue, because in 2018, when I joined Milan, we made the presentation of a project to UEFA on the new San Siro to be completed by 2023.
“And now we’re here. The target is the end of 2028. Having a new and owned stadium allows teams to bring fans not only for the match, but also for a half-day spent with the family at the Milan home.”
He gave his thoughts on the coming changes to the Champions League format.
“The new format allows us to play more matches in Europe, they are high value matches. We would offer our fans more matches against top European clubs.
“There will be a positive economic impact, the value of the competition will grow as well as the teams that will participate.
“I want to hope that Italian football, if it continues with this positive trend, can have a fifth team in the Champions League.”
Finally, Furlani discussed the work to bring Ibrahimovic back to the club.
“Ibra, first of all, was a great footballer and he is also a great showman, he is a leader, an all-round character, not only in the world of football. There are conversations with him.
“I won’t answer you technically because I can’t give you an exact timeframe or even a role, but it can only please a person like, in my role and as a Milan fan, to be able to work with Ibrahimovic again.”