AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli has been handed a boost as Zlatan Ibrahimovic has stepped up his recovery from injury.
The 40-year-old has bagged eight goals and two assists in 19 appearances in all competitions so far this season, but has now missed the last four Serie A games with an Achilles tendon issue.
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Prior to that though, he had only managed one goal and no assists in his last five outings, and so the overall struggle for Milan’s attack has been ongoing for some time now.
Nevertheless, given the quality that we know he’s still capable of producing and the presence he has both in the dressing room and on the pitch, Milan will undoubtedly be boosted by his return and it seems as though things are moving in the right direction.
As per MilanNews’ Antonio Vitiello, Ibrahimovic took part in the training session with the rest of the group on Sunday, and while he only featured in half of the session, it’s progress considering he has been on a personalised training program in recent weeks.
He returned to that portion of his usual schedule for the second half of the session, but it’s certainly positive that we could be moving closer to the Swedish stalwart being back at Pioli’s disposal.
Milan’s primary issue in recent games has been an evident lack of creative quality in the side, with the likes of Brahim Diaz, Messias Junior and Alexis Saelemaekers not doing enough in the final third to make us a threat.
Ibrahimovic won’t solve that issue, but having him rotate, compete and perhaps even accompany Olivier Giroud up front at times will add a fresh dynamic to our attack, and hopefully it’s one that kick starts us again and helps ensure we put together a strong run of results between now and the end of the season.
It’s most likely that Tuesday’s Coppa Italia clash with Inter will come too soon for Ibrahimovic, but perhaps he’ll hope to be involved against Napoli next Sunday.