Origi confession of Milan struggle and Ibrahimovic row: ‘I take nothing personally’

Divock Origi reveals his unexpected life as a Harvard student, how it went wrong after Liverpool and what prompted Zlatan Ibrahimovic to freeze him out of the Milan squad. ‘I take nothing personally.’

The Belgian hung up his boots at the age of 31, although his last official match was back in 2024 for Nottingham Forest.

It was where he was sent on loan after the dismal spell at Milan, having moved to San Siro as a free agent from Liverpool in 2022.

When he failed to regain fitness or form, Origi was dumped into the Milan Futuro youth team, where he refused to train with the teenagers, dragging out a legal battle for another two years until his contract was finally terminated by mutual consent on January 1, 2026.

“I was 27 years old, the era at Liverpool had come to an end, so I wanted to deal with a new challenge and escape my comfort zone,” confessed Origi to Het Laatse Nieuwa in Belgium, via La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Paolo Maldini was determined to sign me, he really believed in me. The problem was, I was injured when I arrived at Milan. I wasn’t in good shape, normally I would have the pre-season training with my trainer, but that time it was not possible.”

The winger ultimately made 36 competitive appearances in the Milan jersey, scoring two goals and contributing one assist.

He was loaned out to Nottingham Forest the next season, managing just 22 games for the Premier League side, with one goal and one assist, but his return to San Siro proved the end of the line in 2024.

It was Ibrahimovic who made the decision to exclude Origi from the squad and send him to the Milan Futuro youth team.

“I take nothing personally,” assured the former player. “It was a work decision. Obviously, I was not happy, but I’ve left it behind me now. Zlatan remains a legend.”

Nonetheless, Origi was pressed on what exactly happened at Milan after Maldini had been fired and was no longer there to protect him.

“I was excluded from the squad and they would not allow me to train with the rest of the players. There was the opportunity of working with the Milan Futuro team, but there are some things I am contractually bound not to reveal…

“I will simply say that I did not agree with all of this. I remained concentrated in that period at Milan, I trained by myself. You don’t just learn from wonderful moments, but the painful ones too. Everything you experience is a life lesson.”

Now Origi is going through a different kind of lesson, because the 31-year-old has been enrolled as a student at the iconic Harvard University.

“Everyone here knows I was a football player, but now I want to work on my entrepreneurial abilities and combine that with fashion and design, my other passions. I am a reserved person, I even closed down my Instagram messages.”