USA international Christian Pulisic is “doing amazingly” at Milan, Rossoneri great Zlatan Ibrahimovic has said as the club prepares for a spell without their top scorer that could last for the rest of 2024.
Eight-goal Pulisic was diagnosed with a “low-grade” calf tear on Monday, with reports in Italy suggesting Milan hope he will return for their Italian Super Cup semi-final against Juventus in Saudi Arabia on January 3 after sustaining the issue in their 2-1 Serie A defeat at Atalanta on Friday.
In the meantime, former Milan striker Ibrahimovic has praised Pulisic’s progress since signing for £20 million ($25.6m) in July 2023 from Chelsea, where he made 145 appearances in four years.
🔴⚫️🇺🇸 Pulisic will be out at least 15 days 🤕
❌ v Red Star
❌ v Genoa
❌ v TorinoNext week they’ll do more tests on his calf to assess the injury, according to Sky Italia. pic.twitter.com/nH3HU0Ipuc
— Italian Football TV (@IFTVofficial) December 9, 2024
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Pulisic ‘really happy’ at Milan
“When it comes to Pulisic, we revived him from his previous situation,” said Ibrahimovic, telling UEFA.com.that the 26-year-old is “our Captain America”.
“You can see he is really happy on the field and that’s why he is performing on a high level. He is doing amazingly, you can see he is happy; being in Milan, every player you could ask [would say the same].
“Everybody is happy, everybody is enjoying [themselves] because they are at a great club. We’ve put them in an amazing situation so that they only have to think about football [and] perform on the field.”
“I just got nervous.” 👀
Episode 1 of the new @pulisic docuseries drops TOMORROW on @paramountplus 🍿 pic.twitter.com/ldVPTxP9f4
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 8, 2024
Zlatan: RedBird ‘aiming to make history’
Sweden all-time top scorer Ibrahimovic is back at Milan in an advisory role after two playing spells at the San Siro, winning Serie A and the Super Cup during the first of them, between 2010 and 2012.
As well as Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain, Ibrahimovic represented the LA Galaxy after he first left Milan, contributing 52 goals and 17 assists in 56 games between 2018 and 2019 for the newly-crowned MLS Cup winners.
Ibrahimovic returned to Milan in 2020, becoming an Italian champion again in 2021/22 and, at the age of 41, the oldest Serie A scorer the following season.
🎙️ Zlatan: “I need to win, I want to win and I will win” 👊#SempreMilan pic.twitter.com/oHLBdbzZOy
— AC Milan (@acmilan) June 13, 2024
He retired from playing at the end of that campaign before American group RedBird, who bought Milan in August 2022, appointed him to a senior position in December 2023.
“I believe in the project, I believe in what Milan stands for, I believe I share the same vision as the people working and the ownership because they want to [do] amazing things,” he said.
“They’re aiming to make history, winning, and when it comes to winning, that is where I feel I am alive because I want to win. I’ll do anything to win and I don’t give up until I win.”
Milan vs Crvena zvezda: ‘We’re not satisfied’
The 11-time Ballon d’Or nominee said he is at “peace” with retiring while hinting that he occasionally feels “frustrated” not to be playing.
“But it’s not like I miss playing the game,” Ibrahimovic added. “I have great colleagues and I work with good people who are helping me.
“We’re young, we’re hungry, we have big ambitions, we have a big vision, and everybody has a big will to do more. We’re not satisfied until we get what we want, and that’s winning.
“We speak a lot with the players – we. But me, myself, I speak a lot with them, like daily contact with them. It’s part of the thing I do and it’s part of the journey, to stay close, to help, to advise.”
Milan are seventh in Serie A and will hope to move into the automatic qualification places in the Champions League when they host Crvena zvezda on Wednesday (8pm GMT).
