Kirovski, who is Ibra’s friend who hopes to become a sporting director

Few people know that in his palmares there is a Champions League won as a footballer. Yes, because Jovan Kirovski is not a carneade parachuted into the Milan world from nowhere. And not even a luxury recommendation. Of course, his friendship with Zlatan Ibrahimovic certainly had something to do with his arrival in Italy. But the 50-year-old American of Macedonian origins has a past that is often ignored by critics and detractors. And a future to be written within Milan, with the great aspiration of rising to the first team, after two years with the Under 23s and the shame of relegation to Serie D.

history

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Jovan Kirovski was born in Escondido, California, but at a very young age he landed in the Manchester United youth team. First American ever to sign for the Red Devils, a sign that there is no shortage of talent. He plays as a right winger and also stands out in United’s youth team, but cannot make his first team debut due to bureaucratic issues (work permit in the United Kingdom). In 1996 he decided to move to Borussia Dortmund. In Germany he is not a starter, but he can finally play. He scored a goal in the Bundesliga and made two appearances in the Champions League which earned him the title of first player from the States to win the tournament, even if he didn’t even go on the bench in the final against Juventus. In the Champions League he also scored the following year, but in Dortmund there wasn’t much space for him. So Kirovski begins to travel around Europe: Fortuna Cologne, Sporting, Crystal Palace, Birmingham. Ups and downs, until the decision to return to America, where he finally finds his El Dorado in the Los Angeles Galaxy. On and off the pitch.

Milan

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Kirovski ended his career as a footballer in 2011, but still remained in the Californian franchise. First assistant coach, then technical director. It was in this capacity that he welcomed Ibrahimovic to LA in 2018. What united the two was his friendship with Mino Raiola, the Swedish striker’s agent at the time. A good feeling was born between Kirovski and Ibra, which was not lost even when Zlatan returned to Milan. Indeed, the Rossoneri Ibra 2.0 will prove to be fundamental in the American’s arrival in Milan. Because when the former center forward becomes RedBird’s senior advisor in 2024, he indicates Kirovski to Gerry Cardinale as manager for the newly formed Milan Futuro, the Under 23 team.

Today

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Kirovski lands in Italy a bit like an alien. He doesn’t speak Italian, he doesn’t know Serie C and he finds himself working on a completely new project. In the first year, comes the relegation to D. Which makes noise, even though the greats Camarda, Bartesaghi, Jimenez and Torriani have risen from that team on a permanent basis. When, after the defeat against Cagliari last May, Cardinale eliminated all the top management of the club, from the CEO to the sporting director, through to the director and the coach, the only one to survive was Jovan, who signed the renewal complete with a salary increase. He remains sport development director, at least for now. But in the reconstruction of Milan – for now still orphaned of a technical area – Kirovski is already actively working for the first team too, together with Donato Lomonte and Bobby Gardiner. And in his ambition, the leap should come soon, perhaps already in the summer, if Cardinale does not find suitable figures in the role of director and sporting director.