Zlatan Ibrahimovic is ready to return to AC Milan in a management role.

Having retired at the end of last season, the Swede is now willing to take a job with the Rossoneri.

La Gazzetta dello Sport says Milan are ready to give him a leading role and not a vanity project - which was one of the concerns raised by Ibrahimovic who has no intentions of returning and having a marginal role.

The second request was that he worked in close contact with Stefano Pioli's team and be part of the daily life of Milanello.

Ibra could return as club manager or as a liaison with Pioli, who is also pushing hard to bring Zlatan back to work alongside him. There would only be one last point to settle before making everything official: the Swede wants to be free to carry on his business affairs even once he returns to Milan.

The right balance is still to be found and the parties are continuing to negotiate on this aspect.