Zlatan Ibrahimovic, back in Italy to sign a contract extension with AC Milan, said he intends to “help the club get back to where it deserves to be”, in a video posted on Sunday.
The video, posted on the AC Milan website and entitled “Iz Back”, started with a small plane landing at the city’s Linate airport on Saturday evening and then showed the 39-year-old Swede, who was decked out in club gear, declaring he was delighted to return “to where he feels at home”.
Ibrahimovic has yet to sign the extension but, according to Italian press reports, the star striker and Milan have agreed an extra year’s contract, with an annual salary of 7 million euros (8.33 million dollars).
He rejoined the club last December on a six-month contract from the Los Angeles Galaxy, on a salary of 3.5 million euros with an optional extra year. He scored 11 times in 20 Serie A and Italian Cup matches.
“As I said before, I’m not here to be a mascot, but to bring results, to help the club, the team and the coach get back to where Milan deserves to be,” he said in Italian on the video.
“We’ve done great things in the last six months but we haven’t gained anything. Now I have the chance to be there from the very beginning, we have to keep going and do the same thing,” said the Swede.
The Italian season starts on September 19.
“Ibrahimovic is our priority,” AC Milan technical director Paolo Maldini said last Tuesday, without ruling out a Plan B as negotiations with the Swedish giants dragged on.
“We know it will be a short pre-season, so we want to complete the deal in a very short time.” Maldini added.
AC Milan’s stated aim is to return to the Champions League, a competition the Rossoneri have won seven times but have not played in since 2014.