Trawl through the record books, scan the YouTube highlights, or simply ask the man himself – there has never been another footballer quite like Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Consider the catalogue of classic goals, the ceaseless self-obsession, the endless controversies and the impressive collection of silverware, and Ibrahimovic stands today as perhaps his generation’s most complex and polarising footballer.
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The brilliantly gifted Swede will be 40 next month but despite his age he again looms as a key figure for AC Milan this season, for whom he looks set to lead the line against Liverpool in their upcoming Champions League clash after recovering from a knee injury.
Rumours have circulated for some time it will be the final campaign at the top level for the man known as ‘Ibra’, who since leaving Malmo in his native Sweden in 2001, has spent two decades plying his trade for a host of the world’s most prestigious clubs: Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United and LA Galaxy.
Throughout, he has maintained an impressive goals-to-games ratio despite routinely courting drama; there has been no end of physical fracas with teammates along the journey but perhaps his most infamous stoush was with legendary manager Pep Guardiola, about whom he reportedly said following a spell at Barca that ended acrimoniously: “He bought a Ferrari, but he drive it like a Fiat.”
For all his supporters – and there are many, including Ibrahimovic himself, above all others – there have been as many detractors. Respected manager Martin O’Neill once described him as “the most overrated player on the planet” and his critics have generally pointed to a habit of going missing in big matches, while for all his goal-scoring feats at big clubs, a Champions League title is notably absent from his CV. In fact, the aforementioned showdown with Guardiola came in 2010, and when Ibrahimovic was loaned out to AC Milan in the opening months of the 2010-11 season, Barcelona went on to European glory.
Of course, Ibrahimovic is having none of it. Just last week he compared himself to his generation’s two finest players, and two of the best of any era.
“If you’re talking about intrinsic qualities, I have nothing less than (Messi and Ronaldo),” he told France Football. “(Do) I miss the Ballon d’Or? No, it’s Ballon d’Or who misses me!
“Deep down, I think I’m the best in the world.”
This month, a feature film on the life of Ibrahimovic, titled simply, I Am Zlatan, is set to be released, tracking the rise of the footballer from childhood right through to superstardom.
And what a rise it was. Ibrahimovic’s is a quintessential tale of the boy from the wrong side of the tracks coming good, using the slings and arrows he suffered through his childhood (as the son of poor immigrants, these were largely based on economics and race) as fuel for a fire that burned white hot.
A devilishly talented youth player who possessed a rare blend of size, power and dancing feet, he also reportedly earned a black belt in karate as a 17-year-old and might have followed that path professionally had it not been for his footballing passion. In a story that underlines his arrogance (and the fact he often talks in the third person) he was at that same age asked by then Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger to come to London for a trial.
“I turned it down,” Ibrahimovic said years later. “Zlatan doesn’t do auditions.”
A series of virtuoso goals – slalom runs, thunderous strikes, clever flicks and acrobatic volleys all among them – have made the 196cm striker a regular goal-of-the-season winner in various competitions across the past two decades. Way back in 2004, an incredible solo goal for Ajax shot his name to prominence worldwide, while a remarkable bicycle kick for Sweden against England won the 2013 Puskas Award for international goal of the year.
Even during his stint with LA Galaxy in the US, which most assumed would be the final chapter of his career, he was wowing the crowds from the outset, scoring twice as a sub on debut in a 4-3 win, including one stunning half-volley struck more than 40 metres from goal.
“I heard the crowd saying, ‘We want Zlatan, we want Zlatan’,” he said post-match. “So I gave them Zlatan.”
But Champions League football is light years away from Major League Soccer, where Ibrahimovic happily declared himself “by far the best player” in the competition. The 39-year-old will doubtless feel comfortable back among Europe’s elite (remember, this is a man who has labelled himself both a god and a lion) but his ageing legs could become an issue against the tournament’s best defenders.
And the blowtorch will be on from AC Milan as well. The Rossoneri has returned to the Champions League after a seven-season hiatus – a length of time previously considered unthinkable for the seven-time European champions. In Group B they face not only 2019 winners Liverpool, but La Liga title holders Atletico Madrid as well as FC Porto, the Portuguese side that has twice reached the quarter-finals in the past three seasons.
If Ibrahimovic can again be Milan’s talisman through the group stage, and help guide them through to the knockout stages – by which time he will be 40 – it will be another remarkable plot twist in Zlatan’s weird and wonderful story.
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