Lazetic discusses Fortuna Sittard loan spell, desire for Milan return and working with Zlatan | OneFootball

Marko Lazetic has expressed his desire to return to AC Milan and stay at the club by earning a spot on the first team, despite the fact he is having a difficult season in the Netherlands.

Lazetic is looking for his first goal in the Eredivisie with Fortuna Sittard and then aims to return to the Rossoneri, this time to stay. The class of 19-year-old spoke to the microphones of gianlucadimarzio.com about his experience so far.

“Leaving on loan is never easy. My goal is to improve every day thanks to hard work. I hope to return to Milan. Sometimes you have to work your way up before playing in teams like Milan. If my goal is to return to be a starter? Absolutely yes, 100%,” he said.

“I am not inspired by any striker in particular. I love observing many players with different characteristics because that’s how you learn.

“But one thing is certain: I have nothing in common with Mitrovic who is a real centre-forward, a great finisher. But I like to attack space and look for one-on-ones. All this will come with time.”

Given that the Scudetto and Coppa Italia have now vanished, Milan’s main objective is to win the UEFA Europa League. Roma await in the quarter-finals next month, but Lazetic is confident that his parent club can go all the way.

“It’s a good fight with many great teams that can win. In the end who will lift the trophy? Come on, you already know the answer: Milan! The Rossoneri will go through 100% against Roma.

“I know the team and the players. I know the team and the players, even the new ones because I moved to Holland after their arrival. I trained with Ruben [Loftus-Cheek], [Samuel] Chukwueze and Tijjani [Reijnders] who are exceptional boys and players.

And then Pulisic… my goodness what season he’s having! All of them have made Milan stronger than before and thanks to those who were already there like Theo [Hernandez], Fik [Tomori], Malick [Thiaw], Mike [Maignan]…

“The Rossoneri really have an excellent chance of winning the Europa League. A meeting with Liverpool in Dublin? It doesn’t matter the opponent in the final, for me the Rossoneri win the trophy.”

As mentioned, things have not exactly gone to plan for Lazetic – who was signed from Red Star in January 2022 – given that he has made just eight league appearances for Fortuna Sittard and is yet to score.

“I hope to be able to return to Milan as soon as possible but I am aware of the fact that there are still some steps to d . I will do everything to continue improving. But I take things as they come, I think about the day and then we’ll see.

“Since I left I have improved in three things: I work harder, I have understood how to be in certain environments and I have grown in experience. This does not mean that before I didn’t give everything.

“Anyone who knows me knows that I am a hard worker, But I’m still young and physically I still have to grow. If I continue like this I can become a great player.

“I made my debut for the Rossoneri at San Siro in the Coppa Italia against Inter and then in Serie A against Cremonese. Playing in a stadium like San Siro in front of those fans was crazy.”

At Milan, the teenager trained with Zlatan Ibrahimovic who is now back as a Senior Advisor to the club and to owners RedBird Capital. Lazetic shed some light on what it was like to work with him.

“It was wonderful to train with Zlatan, because he is a fantastic person. And then he speaks the same language as me. Every day I looked at him to steal things from him and add them to my technical baggage.

“Unfortunately we didn’t train much together because he was injured for almost the entire season. For the little time we did, he gave me a lot of advice on how to shoot, and this made me improve.

“And this made me improve even if there was no shortage of criticism, you all know Ibra, right? (laughs). Zlatan is very strict but he only wants the best for each of us.”

Finally, Marko Lazetic spoke about Rafael Leao and Olivier Giroud as well as his compatriot Luka Jovic, all of whom have scored importance goals this season for Milan.

“Power and ability out of the ordinary: Rafa is impressive. He has the talent to become the best player in the world. I don’t want to say that he is the best player in the squad because that dressing room is full of world-class players. Everyone is important. Milan wouldn’t be Milan without each of them. Then of course, Rafa has something different…

“Giroud? Olivier is an extraordinary player and a great person, unfortunately from a footballing point of view he is underrated. His goals against Inter two seasons ago brought us the Scudetto. That was also my first call up to the San Siro.

“Luka [Jovic] is like a Serbian and every time he comes on the pitch I root for him. Then if you played for Real Madrid it means that you are a great footballer and he is. However, I hope that Pioli makes him play more and that he continues to score.”

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