Swedish football legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic recently signed a new contract extension with the Italian Serie A side AC Milan. And now, he believes that Turkish star Hakan Calhanoglu has all the potential to become the real No.10 of the club. He also believes that the attacking midfielder can live up to his expectation.
Calhanoglu first caught the attention of football pundits during his time with the Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. And in 2017, he took his transfer to the Italian club AC Milan. Since his joining, he appeared in more than 129 matches for the club while scoring 23 goals. And now, he became an integral part of the AC Milan’s starting squad.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic believes Hakan Calhanoglu can live up to his expectation at AC Milan
While talking about Hakan Calhanoglu, Zlatan Ibrahimovic said, “When I first met Calhanoglu, I knew hew who he was. I said to him: ‘Wearing the No. 10 of AC Milan is a great thing because all the players who wore the 10 were great. It comes with enormous pressure. It’s a huge responsibility, but if you work hard you can do it.”
He said, “And in the last six months, I saw him work very hard. A player like Calhanoglu can do it. He did it and has to continue to do it because it’s never enough.” The star then added, “You have to have the mindset that you’re never satisfied. In the last six months, he played like a real AC Milan No. 10. I hope he continues like that because he can do great things and can do even more.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic | Skills and Goals 2020
The Swedish star said, “I’ve chosen the No. 11 to play for AC Milan this season.” He said, “The fans know me with his number and I wanted to bring it back. Wearing 21, I didn’t feel like the same Ibrahimovic of the past, so I asked to have the 11 because it’s my number. Simple.” He then added, “I’ve come back here to bring AC Milan back to where it should be and I’ll do everything to achieve my goals.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic said, “We need to work hard and make sacrifices but I think in the last six months of the last season everyone understood what is needed to achieve our goals.” He said, “But we must not forget that we haven’t won anything yet. In my mind, my objective is to always win something. That’s my objective. I start the season with the objective to win.”