This archive report was first published on 8 May 2020.
On May 8, 2020, AC Milan was eagerly awaiting the return of Zlatan Ibrahimovic from a coronavirus exile in Sweden, which had fueled speculation that the star player might be coming home for good.
While his teammates were idle due to the pandemic, Ibrahimovic was busy training in Sweden with players from Hammarby, a first-division club he part owns.
Sweden's flexible restrictions allowed athletes to train as long as they avoided close contact, unlike Italy where individual training only resumed this week.
On Tuesday, only Ibrahimovic and Ivory Coast striker Franck Kessie were absent at the Milanello centre for medical tests AC Milan had asked players to take, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
However, on Friday morning, the same newspaper reported that the Swede was expected to return later in the day.
Reports in Sweden were contradictory, with some saying Ibrahimovic was waiting for a clearer picture of how training and Serie A would resume, while others claimed he was poised to leave for Italy, where Serie A hopes to resume in June.
“If we start on 4 May, I will return on 3 May. If we start on 9 May, I will arrive on 8 May,” Ibrahimovic was quoted by Swedish public television as saying in April.
The Italian government had not yet agreed to a plan for clubs to resume group training on May 18, and Italian sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora warned that it was “impossible to set a definite date” for Serie A to restart.
Meanwhile, in Stockholm, life had been almost normal for the former Swedish international, who had returned home with his family after the break in the Italian championship.
“If you look at Zlatan it’s obvious that he gets completely different possibilities to stay in shape compared to the Serie A players that are still in Italy,” Martin Petersson, a football journalist with TV4, told AFP.
Ibrahimovic's presence had fueled the idea that the pandemic would precipitate his return to the Swedish league, where it all began for him 20 years ago in Malmo.
His contract with Milan, signed in December after a two-year stint in the USA with LA Galaxy, expires at the end of the season.
Many in Swedish football believed the pony-tailed giant would return to his homeland.
“It feels like Hammarby as an option in the future isn’t completely out of the picture,” said Petersson. “He’s still missing one trophy, apart from Champions League, and that’s the one given to the champions of Sweden. Maybe that’s tempting for him?”
