Zlatan Ibrahimovic plays match with son for AC Milan U18s

It looks like Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been coaching his own strike partner after he was spotted at AC Milan’s training complex alongside his son Maximilian this week.

The pair were training together at the reigning Serie A champions’ Milanello Sports Center when the 41-year-old Sweden forward attended a match with the Rossoneri‘s U18 side while continuing to recover from a knee injury that has kept him out of action since May.

After missing out on a spot in Milan’s squad in Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, Zlatan found himself back with his own flesh and blood as a guest star for the Milan U18 side when they against a team made up of older fringe players.

Maximillian, born in 2006, has followed his father throughout Europe and was previously enrolled at Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United academies. The striker’s younger son Vincent is also part of the Italian club’s youth team but did not feature in the training game.

The Ibrahimovics lined up and chatted briefly before kick-off, forming an impressive attacking partnership while Zlatan did his best to keep up with his youthful foil.

A striker in his own right, Maximilian seems to have inherited his father’s attacking instincts and physical presence, who uses his body to keep defenders at bay in a way that fans will be familiar with.

In fact, young Max seems to prefer to intervene from the left wing, and even his step-over technique is a copy of Zlatan’s own fleet-footed trickery.

Unfortunately, the father-son duo was unable to avoid defeat as the U18s ended up going the wrong way with a 3-0 defeat, with Milan stars Charles De Ketelaere (two) and Ante Rebic scoring the crucial goals.

While Maximillian’s first-team debut is likely a long way off, the thought of not one, but two Ibrahimovics coming together to terrorize Serie A defences, is certainly enticing.

Of course, they’re not the only family members who share Milanello as their workplace: Milan legend Paolo Maldini is now the club’s technical director, ultimately responsible for the development of his 21-year-old son Daniel, who is on a seasonal loan at Spezia.