The Swede had not been at Milanello since a heated confrontation with then-manager Massimiliano Allegri in March, an argument that reduced their working relationship to nothing and shadowed a season that ended with the club fifth in Serie A and out of the Champions League.
His return on 14 September is the first visible signal that the post-Allegri chapter is closed. Amorim, appointed head coach in June after his spell at Manchester United ended, was running the session Ibrahimovic came to watch.
The March row with Allegri
Football Italia reported that Ibrahimovic and Allegri fell out over squad decisions, including the choice of a third-choice goalkeeper, and that Ibrahimovic’s habit of speaking directly to players such as Rafael Leao and Youssouf Fofana about tactics had crossed a line for the manager.
By the end of the campaign the relationship was described as non-existent. Allegri was sacked after Milan finished fifth in Serie A and missed out on Champions League football.
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Senior Advisor, not manager
The absence from Milanello never meant absence from Milan’s decision-making. Ibrahimovic holds the title of Senior Advisor to Cardinale and RedBird Capital, and Milan-focused reporting stresses that his collaboration with the owner “has never been interrupted.”
It also draws a hard line on the limits of that role.
“Ibra does not and has never had the final say in the choice of the chief executive, the sporting director or the manager.”
The 44-year-old spent the summer working as a talent analyst on Fox Sports, according to Milan Reports.
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In Cardinale’s place at San Siro
At the Europa League opener it will be Ibrahimovic representing the ownership. Pianeta Milan reports that Cardinale will not travel to the match, leaving the Senior Advisor to sit in for him.
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