Hakan Calhanoglu has come out swinging after Zlatan Ibrahimovic mocked him at AC Milan's Serie A title parade.
The duo were teammates at Milan during the 2020/21 season.
However, Calhanoglu let his contract run down and decided to join fierce rivals Inter Milan at the start of the 2021/22 campaign.
The move was, as you can imagine, highly controversial.
So, when AC Milan pipped Inter Milan to the Scudetto in May, Zlatan made sure to rip into Calhanoglu during their title parade.
He took the microphone and said to the crowd: âHey, send a message to Hakan." His comments were met by boos and insults from the AC Milan fans in attendance.
Calhanoglu has now hit back at Zlatan and he's pulled no punches.
Speaking to Tivibu Spor, per football-italia, Calhanoglu said: "He is a 40-year-old man, not 18, so I wouldnât do that sort of thing at his age. He just likes being the centre of attention. He didnât contribute to the Scudetto this season, he barely played, but will do everything to be the focus anyway.
âBesides, he is the one who always calls me up, asks me to go out to dinner or for a motorbike ride. He wrote about me in his book too. He had to write something, or it wouldâve been blank pages. Itâs best not to bother, honestly.â
MILAN, ITALY - AUGUST 01: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (L) of AC Milan celebrates after scoring the second goal of his team with his team-mate Hakan Calhanoglu (R) during the Serie A match between AC Milan and Cagliari Calcio at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on August 1, 2020 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
Ouch. Calhanoglu also complained that AC Milan's fans didn't chant his name once during his four-year spell.
He added: "I am very happy at Inter, though, and the support of the fans is very helpful. I played at Milan for four years, but nobody ever chanted my name in the stands, whereas it happens every time I just warm up for Inter.â
The Turkish midfielder also shared his belief that Inter are a much better side than their fierce rivals, despite finishing behind them in the league.
âInter are a much stronger squad than Milan,â he insisted. âWe lost a derby that changed suddenly at the 75th minute after Ivan Perisic and I were substituted. We were leading 1-0 and then lost 2-1, so the coach contributed to the defeat and I told him as much.
âIn the Coppa Italia semi-final, we beat Milan 3-0.â
We'd love to see Zlatan respond to Calhanoglu's comments.