AC Milan

Saturday's Serie A match between AC Milan and Udinese was briefly brought to a stop after Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan was the target of racist chanting from supporters inside Stadio Friuli, according to ESPN.

In the 33rd minute, Maignan began to walk off the pitch:

His teammates walked toward the touchline as well with the match becoming of secondary concern.

The club supported Maignan on X, formerly known as Twitter:

The match eventually resumed, with Lazar Samardžić delivering an equalizer for Udinese in the 42nd minute. Florian Thauvin gave the home side a 2-1 lead before Luka Jović and Noah Okafor turned the tide for Milan deep into the second half.

Racism remains a problem in world football writ large and Italy isn't exempt.

Last April, Juventus received a partial stadium ban that was subsequently overturned after then-Inter Milan star Romelu Lukaku received racial abuse. Italian police did, however identify 171 Juve supporters who warranted individual stadium bans for their roles in the racist chanting.

Serie A chief executive Luigi de Siervo said in May the league intended to take a "zero tolerance" policy toward the issue.

"Today with technology and stadium microphones they can be heard and we can punish them," he said. "It's a battle — like a tumor, you have to systematically remove it even if it has recurrences."

United States men's national soccer team star Christian Pulisic reportedly has a deal in place for a transfer from Chelsea to AC Milan.

According to world football insider Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea has accepted the terms of Milan's final bid after Pulisic did the same "weeks ago" and made it clear that he only wanted to go to AC Milan.

Romano added that the deal between Chelsea and AC Milan was worth "more [than] €20m with add-ons," and a strong relationship between Chelsea and Milan played a pivotal role in getting the move done.

The 24-year-old Pulisic had been with Chelsea since 2019 after spending the first four seasons of his professional career with Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund.

Pulisic, who was born and raised in Hershey, Pennsylvania, scored 13 league goals and 19 total goals in four seasons at Borussia Dortmund before Chelsea landed him for a £58 million transfer fee in 2019.

He went on to score 20 league goals and 26 total goals in four seasons for the Blues before orchestrating a move to AC Milan.

Although Pulisic didn't put up huge individual stats, he enjoyed some team success at Chelsea, winning the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League, the 2021 UEFA Super Cup and the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup.

Pulisic also earned the distinction of being the first American player to play in a Champions League final.

He is perhaps best known for his exploits with the USMNT with which he has scored 25 goals in 60 appearances, including the lone goal in a 1-0 win over Iran in the group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which moved the United States into the knockout round.

Pulisic also scored twice in a 3-0 win over Mexico in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Nations League last month.

In AC Milan, Pulisic is joining a club tied with Internazionale for the second-most Italian league titles of all time with 19.

AC Milan won the Serie A title in 2022, but that was their first title since 2011. They dropped to fourth in Serie A last season, however, they reached the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League before falling to Inter.

Longtime superstar and AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimović announced his retirement from football on Sunday.

Ibrahimović played for Malmö FF, Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, two stints with AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United and LA Galaxy during his 22-year career.

Ibrahimović addressed the San Siro crowed after the club's final match (h/t Francesco Porzio):

"I can't breathe but it's okay, so many memories and so many memories inside this stadium. The first time I came here you gave me love, then happiness. I want to thank my family for their patience. I want to thank my second family, my teammates. I thank the coach, the staff, the managers. Lastly, but with my heart, I want to thank you fans. It's time to say goodbye to football, but not to you," the player said.

Ibrahimović, 41, has scored 561 career goals between club and and the Swedish national team, 14th in the history of the sport. He is also Sweden's all-time leading goalscorer with 62 tallies.

He was one of his generation's most clinical finishers and one of the sport's most colorful characters.

The footballing world paid its respects to the unique superstar after his announcement on Sunday:

The news doesn't come as a major shock. Ibrahimović only played four matches this past season for AC Milan due to injuries, and the club announced it wouldn't be renewing his contract.

"AC Milan will bid farewell to Zlatan Ibrahimovic with a brief ceremony involving all the crowd," a club spokesperson said on Saturday. "AC Milan would like to thank Zlatan for the magnificent years we spent together."

But Ibrahimović helped AC Milan win its first title since the 2010-11 season last year, marking his second title with the club. He was also a three-time leading goalscorer for the club.

While he never won a Champions League title, he earned 14 domestic league titles with Ajax, Juventus (both were since revoked), Inter Milan, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan.

AC Milan came up short against rival Inter in Tuesday's UEFA Champions League Semifinal second leg, falling 1-0 in the match and losing 3-0 on aggregate.

Tuesday's match continued a disappointing stretch for AC Milan, as it has lost to Inter in each of their last four meetings. The team struggled mightily with its offensive attack, failing to get a shot on goal in the second half.

Leading scorer Rafael Leão was next to nonexistent for AC Milan. He recorded more fouls (three) than shot attempts (one). He missed his lone attempt to the right of the net in the 38th minute.

Lautaro Martínez put in a goal for Inter in the 74th minute, and that was all that was needed as Andre Onana recorded his second straight clean sheet.

Fans on Twitter were not happy with Leão and the rest of AC Milan for their performance against their rival on Tuesday and in the semifinal overall:

Leão missed the first leg with an injury, but fans still expected more from the attacker after he agreed to a contract extension last week that ties him to the club until June 2028.

Inter will be playing in the UCL Final for the first time since 2010. The team awaits the winner of Wednesday's semifinal between Real Madrid and Manchester City.

Yankee Global Enterprises, the LLC that owns the New York Yankees, is reportedly joining the RedBird Capital takeover of Italian soccer club AC Milan, per the Financial Times (h/t James Horncastle) of The Athletic.

RedBird Capital agreed to a €1.2billion ($1.2 billion) takeover of the defending Serie A champions in June from Elliott Advisors, which will retain two seats on the club's board.

RedBird Capital Partners is a United States investment firm founded by Gerry Cardinale, who serves as the managing partner.

The firm owns stakes in the Fenway Sports Group—which owns Liverpool, the Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Penguins—Ligue 1's Toulouse FC, the XFL and the Indian Premier League's Rajasthan Royals (cricket).

Yankee Global Enterprises also co-owns Major League Soccer's New York City FC alongside Manchester City Football Group.

According to the Financial Times, "Cardinale has worked with the Yankees for decades, including during his years at Goldman Sachs, which advised and was an early investor in the formation of the teams regional sports channel, the YES Network."

Per that report, the Yankees "will work closely with AC Milan as Cardinale tries to increase the Italian club's revenues and on-field successes," which could include "AC Milan programming on the YES Network."

The California-based investment firm Main Street Advisors—which includes LeBron James and Drake among its investors—is also reportedly joining the RedBird Capital Partners takeover.

AC Milan is one of Europe's most legendary and successful European soccer clubs, with 19 Serie A titles and seven European Cup/Champions League titles. Only Juventus has won more Serie A titles (36), while Inter Milan is even with its rivals at 19 league championships.

The club is considered one of the "seven sisters" of Italian football, joining Juventus, Inter, Lazio, Fiorentina, Roma and Napoli.

AC Milan midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko was searched and held at gunpoint on July 3 by Milan police, who were investigating a shooting. Video of the incident made its way to social media Monday.

Milan police said in a statement: "With reference to the video released today, related to a police check carried out against the Milan player Tiemoue Bakayoko, we underline that the check—occurred during an operation whose context justified the adoption of the highest security measures, also for self-protection purposes—was carried out in a manner that was absolutely consistent with the situation of danger. Once the person was identified and his being unrelated to the facts had been clarified, the police duties resumed regularly, without any kind of complaint on behalf of the person involved."

The Milan Police added that the situation was a "misunderstanding" but said its officers handled the situation according to procedure.

Bakayoko was released by police after being stopped.

AC Milan confirmed to CNN that the person in the video was Bakayoko but didn't comment further.

Bakayoko, 27, is heading into his second year of a two-year loan move from Chelsea. He played a part in AC Milan ending an 11-year title drought last season, appearing in 14 Serie A matches (five starts) for the club.

For his career, he's played for Rennes (2013-14), Monaco (2014-15 to 2016-17, 2019-20), Chelsea (2017-18), Napoli and AC Milan (2018-19, 2021-22 to present). While his career at Chelsea never took off after joining the club in 2017, a series of loans have seen him make an impact in France's Ligue 1 and Italy's Serie A.

While Bakayoko is on loan at AC Milan for another season, it is unclear if he will remain with the club or look to secure a permanent move at a new club. In such a scenario, Chelsea would have to end his loan and agree to his sale on the transfer market.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is sticking with AC Milan.

The Italian club announced on Monday that the star striker has signed a one-year contract extension to remain in Milan.

The seemingly ageless Ibra played an important part in AC Milan's Serie A title last season, scoring eight goals and adding three assists in 23 league appearances (11 starts).

It was the club's first title since 2011, and the 40-year-old—who rejoined AC Milan in the 2019-20 season after leaving in 2012 and making stops with PSG, Manchester United and the LA Galaxy along the way—enjoyed the triumph greatly.

"It's my greatest satisfaction. When I returned, at the press conference, I said that I would bring Milan back to the top," he said in May. "Many were laughing and now we are here, and we won the Scudetto. We made many sacrifices, but nothing is impossible. I have suffered a lot this year."

In his three seasons back with the club, Ibra has notched 33 goals and 10 assists across 60 league appearances.

While AC Milan has Olivier Giroud and summer signing Divock Origi at forward, Ibrahimovic should still provide cover at the position. It's the right role for the veteran striker after he dealt with a number of injuries in the 2021-22 campaign, including an ACL injury he underwent surgery for in May that is expected to keep him out for the remainder of the calendar year.

"For the past six months I played without an ACL in my left knee," he wrote on Instagram in May (h/t The Athletic). "Swollen knee for six months. I was only able to train with the team 10 times in the last six months. Took more than 20 injections in six months. Emptied the knee once a week for six months. Painkillers every day for six months. Barely slept for six months because of the pain. Never suffered so much on and off the pitch."

But when called upon, he offered goals and a major threat in the box. AC Milan will be glad to have him back.