Makes little sense for AC Milan to keep Zlatan Ibrahimovic any longer, proclaims Ralf Rangnick

That has seen Milan offer the former Manchester United and Barcelona striker a one-year extension despite concerns from outside the club. It has seen Ralf Rangnick admit that to him, re-signing Ibrahimovic makes no sense as the Rossoneri should look towards building their team around younger players. The German was also heavily linked with a move to Milan before the club took a U-turn and admitted that the club were looking for a change of direction.

"What you should be asking is: why did Milan turn to me? What did they want to do? Maybe they were looking for a change of direction. It's not my style to focus on a 38-year-old player, not because of talent, but because I prefer to create value and develop talent. It made little sense to me the idea of relying on Ibrahimovic or Simon Kjaer, but that's just my way of seeing things, it's not necessarily right or wrong. When Ibra said he didn't know me, he wasn't wrong. I've never met him," Rangnick admitted, reported Goal.

"I was first contacted [by Milan] at the end of October, when the team was three points off the relegation zone. I never talked about it in public. I do want to make it clear that I never signed a contract or had a clause. Up until three weeks ago, I was tied to Red Bull. As for Milan, they were the best team post-coronavirus lockdown, so changing would not have been wise or respectful.