Sinister Mihajlovic

“I'll have double the incentive to look good and pick up our first points in the championship,” Miha told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “I was never angry about my sacking, only disappointed and embittered.

“But I bear no hard feelings. My conscience is clean and time is always a gentleman. I left Milan in Europe and in the Coppa Italia final, and you all know how the season ended.

“We had our ups and downs, but the group was united and they gave everything they could. I had an excellent relationship with [Adriano] Galliani.

“Nobody understood my sacking, not the fans, nor the team. I never received so many astonished phone-calls and expressions of solidarity.”

After Mihajlovic's departure, president Silvio Berlusconi sold the club to a Chinese conglomerate.

“I can imagine how hard that must have been for him. He wasn't just the most winning president in the world for 30 years, but also the number one fan of Milan.

“The problems emerge when these two roles are no longer sufficient, and you want to be the Coach as well.

“I mean, he never kept his ideas to himself. But Milan's formation was always my own doing. I was sorry to hear some of his statements after my sacking, they were so exaggerated that they were hardly believable.

“I knew the last Berlusconi, and I wish I'd known the first. But in any case I thank him for the opportunity, and I wish him the best for his future.”

The Serbian will come across all of his players again, including Gianluigi Donnarumma, the wonderkid goalkeeper that Mihajlovic himself debuted at the age of 16.

“I'll say a fond hello to all of them. Gigio will give Gigi [Buffon] a turnover in the national team. If he remains humble, then the next 20 years will be marked by his extraordinary talent.”