David Beckham has had mixed success, Ronaldo has been relegated, the Class of ’92 are stuck in League Two and an Arsenal Invincible still has a big role at the Gunners… when footballers go behind-the-scenes as Zlatan Ibrahimovic returns to AC Milan
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic has returned to AC Milan as an advisor to the club’s owners
- Mail Sport takes a look at players who have taken on behind-the-scenes roles
- Will Marcus Rashford EVER be the real deal? Listen to It’s All Kicking Off
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has returned to AC Milan as an advisor to the club’s ownership and management.
The Swedish superstar, 42, is back at the club just six months after ending his illustrious playing career.
He follows an illustrious list of names who have taken on behind-the-scenes roles in football.
The likes of David Beckham and Brazilian Ronaldo have gone into ownership while others have taken on other responsibilities at the club such as sporting director.
Mail Sport takes a look at those who have taken on behind-the-scenes roles at clubs.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has returned to AC Milan as an advisor to the owners (pictured with Gerry Cardinale)
Ronaldo Nazario (owner at Real Valladolid and Cruzeiro)
The former Brazil and Real Madrid star is football royalty and regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all time.
His playing career came to an end in 2011, and after some time out of the game, he returned in September 2018 when he became the majority owner of Spanish side Real Valladolid.
Then in December 2021, he bought a controlling stake in his boyhood club Cruzeiro – investing £56m into the club.
As an owner, he has endured mixed success with Valladolid bouncing between divisions in recent seasons.
They were promoted to LaLiga in 2022, but relegated a year later – finishing just one point off safety. This season, they are right in the thick of the promotion fight once again, sitting second in the standings as the campaign reaches the half-way point.
His Cruzeiro side were also promoted in 2022 to the top flight of Brazilian football.
The club, unlike Valladolid escaped the drop with a 14th placed finish – four points ahead of Santos who were relegated for the first time in the club’s history.
Reports in Spain suggested in the summer that Ronaldo was looking to sell Valladolid, but the Brazilian has denied these suggestions.
Ronaldo Nazario owns Spanish side Real Valladolid and boyhood club Cruzeiro in Brazil
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David Beckham (owner at Inter Miami)
Perhaps the most famous owner of a club in world football, David Beckham has had mixed success at Inter Miami.
Becoming the owner of a MLS club was something he planned ever since his transfer to LA Galaxy in 2007 – as there was an agreement in the deal which allowed him to own an expansion team at a discounted franchise fee.
This option was exercised in 2014, though it didn’t come into fruition until 2020 when Inter Miami finally played their first game.
In their first three seasons, they won just 33 out of 91 MLS games.
The 2023 season – Inter Miami’s fourth – has been a mixed bag for Beckham and the club and finished a disappointing 27th overall in the MLS.
However, they brought in one of the greatest players of all time in the form of Barcelona icon and Argentine World Cup winner Lionel Messi.
With Messi, as well as his ex-Barcelona team-mates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba on board, they managed to win the Leagues Cup, and narrowly fall short with a 2-1 loss to Houston Dynamo in the U.S. Open Cup final.
Things are starting to look better at Inter Miami with Lionel Messi for owner David Beckham
Class of ’92 (owners at Salford City)
Inter Miami is not the only club that Beckham has an affiliation with, as he and some of his former Manchester United team-mates are co-owners at League Two side Salford City.
Beckham, along with Gary Neville, his brother Phil, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt each have a ten per cent share in the club – with billionaire Singapore investor Peter Lim holding the remaining 40 per cent.
The Class of ’92 joined the ownership team in 2014, with Giggs indicted that they had ambitious plans of reaching the Championship within 15 years.
At the time they were in the eighth tier of English football in the Northern Premier League and nine years later they are in the fourth tier in League Two.
However, they have been stuck in League Two for perhaps longer than they would have hoped, having been promoted to the division in 2019.
They have finished 11th, 8th, 10th and 7th last season – where they lost in the play-off semi finals.
This season they appear to have taken a downward spiral and are 20th in the standings.
If they can turn their form around though, then they still have plenty of time to meet meet Giggs’ ambition of reaching the Championship by 2029.
Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville (top row left to right) and Ryan Giggs (two rows below on the right) are part of the Class of 92 who each have a ten per cent share in League Two Salford
Hector Bellerin (has a stake at Forest Green)
The one player on this list who is still playing today, former Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin has had a stake in League Two side Forest Green since 2020.
He revealed the news in an interview with the Athletic – becoming the second largest shareholder in the club.
Under chairman Dale Vince, a British green energy industrialist, the club has employed eco-friendly developments such as solar panels on its New Lawn home ground, the use of a solar-powered robot grass mower, and the creation of the world’s first organic football pitch.
Like Bellerin, Rovers are vegan and became the world’s first carbon neutral sports club in 2017.
Bellerin said: ‘When I first played Forest Green Rovers – all I knew about them was that it was a long way from London! As I heard more about the club and its work, I knew I wanted to meet them and be part of it.’
While the Spaniard plays his football at Real Betis in LaLiga, Forest Green are in the midst of a relegation battle – as they sit 23rd in the table with 15 points in 19 games.
Hector Bellerin plays for Real Betis but is also a shareholder at League Two side Forest Green
Didier Drogba (owner at Phoenix Rising)
Chelsea legend Didier Drogba finished his playing career at United Soccer League side Phoenix Rising – who he became a player-owner for back in 2017.
Though he played for just one season before retiring from his on-the-field duties, he remains part of the ownership team at Phoenix Rising.
The 2023 season was a successful one for the side who won the United Soccer League Championship for the first time in their history, beating Charleston Battery on penalties – only after they scored a 90th minute equaliser to keep their hopes alive.
Phoenix regularly sell out their 10,000 capacity stadium and are one of the clubs knocking on the door to join the MLS.
Didier Drogba finished his career at Phoenix Rising where he remains part of the ownership team
Jamie Vardy (former part-owner at Rochester New York)
Leicester City hero Jamie Vardy acquired a minority stake in American club the Rochester Rhinos – later renamed Rochester New York FC – in June 2021.
However, things didn’t work out for the club who pulled out of the MLS Next Pro season in March 2023, after its potential backers pulled out at the 11th hour.
The club said they were left with ‘no time and no choice but to decline fielding a team in 2023’ and cease operations.
Rochester had previously been seen as a possibility to join the MLS – before the league ultimately shifted its focus to larger markets.
Rochester New York FC ceased operations just 21 months after Jamie Vardy took on a minority stake
Edwin van der Sar and Marc Overmars (former directors at Ajax)
Manchester United legend Edwin van der Sar and former Arsenal title-winner Marc Overmars, held significant roles at Ajax in recent years, although they are no longer at the club.
Former goalkeeper Van der Sar held a number of roles during his 11 years on the Ajax board – most recently as the club’s CEO before he left due to ‘exhaustion’.
Announcing his departure in May, he told the club’s website: ‘After almost eleven years on the board, I am exhausted. We’ve been through some very nice things, but it’s also been an incredibly tough period.
‘I am very grateful to the people I met and worked with during my second career at Ajax for what we have achieved and experienced. I now need to distance myself, relax and do other things.
‘It doesn’t feel good to have to make decisions about the future of this beautiful club in the coming period. Hence my decision to stop now.’
Overmars, was the club’s director of football, before he left in March 2022 after sending a ‘series of inappropriate messages to several female colleagues’.
‘I am ashamed,’ Overmars said. ‘Last week I was confronted with reports about my behaviour and how this has come across to others.
‘Unfortunately, I didn’t realise that I was crossing the line with this, but that was made clear to me in recent days. I suddenly felt enormous pressure.
‘I apologise. Certainly for someone in my position, this behaviour is unacceptable. I now see that too.
‘But it is too late. I see no other option but to leave Ajax. This also has a major impact on my private situation. That is why I ask everyone to leave me and my family alone.’
Overmars now works at Belgian side Royal Antwerp, but was recently hit with a one-year ban from Dutch football after admitting to sending inappropriate messages to female colleagues during his time at Ajax.
Edwin van der Sar (left) departed Ajax in May as he was ‘exhausted’ while Marc Overmars quit last year after ‘sending a series of inappropriate messages to female colleagues’
Edu (sporting director at Arsenal)
The Brazilian was one of the unsung heroes of Arsenal’s 2003-2004 Invincible winning squad.
Two decades on, he is one of the unsung heroes that has helped the Gunners return into title contention, in his role as sporting director.
He returned to Arsenal in 2019 as their technical director, before becoming their first ever sporting director in November 2022.
Arsenal’s improvement since the start of the 2022-23 season has come in large part thanks to their work in the transfer market over a number of years – in which Edu has played a pivotal role.
Signing Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko in the summer of 2022 almost led them to the title, while the addition of Declan Rice in the last transfer window has got Arsenal fans feeling as though they have pulled off a bargain – despite the club record £105m fee they had to pay.
Edu’s work could well help the Gunners to their first league title since his days as part of their incredible unbeaten team nearly twenty years ago.
Edu (right) has played a pivotal role in Arsenal’s improvement in recent years as their primary transfer chief (pictured with Mikel Arteta and Declan Rice during the summer transfer window)
Ex-Chelsea players that have returned to the club
Chelsea have had so many former players return to the club that we’ve had to compile them into one section.
The one who has perhaps had the most influential role in recent years is Petr Cech who was the club’s technical and performance advisor from 2019 until the summer of 2022 – when he left amid Todd Boehly’s arrival at the club.
The man he replaced in Chelsea’s goal, Carlo Cudicini, has held a number of roles but most recently has been their technical loan coach.
He assesses the club’s young players who are aiming to develop out on loan.
Paulo Ferreira held the same role but decided to leave Stamford Bridge and return to Portugal in 2022.
Claude Makelele worked at the club as a youth coach and technical mentor to academy players.
The likes of John Terry, Ashley Cole, Henrique Hilario and Tore Andre Flo have also done work behind-the-scenes at Chelsea.
Petr Cech was the club’s technical and performance advisor from 2019 until the summer of 2022 – when he left amid Todd Boehly’s arrival at the club
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Mark Noble (sporting director at West Ham)
The former midfielder spent the entirety of his playing career – other than two short loan stints – at West Ham before his retirement in 2022.
‘Mr West Ham’ didn’t wait long though to return to the club in another role, becoming their sporting director back in January.
While he unfortunately didn’t win a trophy during his time with West Ham, he saw his boyhood side win the Europa Conference League in May – their first European trophy in 58 years.
Noble was handed the trophy by his successor as captain Rice, and got a big ovation as he lifted the trophy in front of his fans.
He remains heavily involved in the day-to-day running at the club and it wouldn’t be surprised if he stays at the club for a long time to come.
Mark Noble is now sporting director at West Ham following his retirement from playing in 2022
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