ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC SAYS that he once turned down a chance to join Arsenal because Arsene Wenger wanted him on trial.
The Manchester United star was looking back on his illustrious career with Sky Sports Italia show ‘I Signori del Calcio’, and says that when Wenger offered him the chance to come on trial, he was offended by the thought that he needed to try out for any team.
“I went to London for an appointment with Wenger, who asked me to audition for the Gunners. I told him ‘I will not do a trial: either you take me or not, I’m not here to waste time,’” the Swede recalls.
“I already had that kind of trust, because in my mind I was the strongest of all even when I was young. I met Wenger because I expected him to tell me to start with them right away. But Ibra does not test.”
Even as a youngster Ibrahimovic believed he would be the best, and says he watched other legends and wanted to be better than all of them.
“When I was young, in my mind no one was better than me,” he said. ”I watched Ronaldo, Romario and Baggio on TV and I had one goal: I wanted to show that I was the best.”
But getting to that level wasn’t easy for the youngster, who saw his family sacrifice plenty to keep his dreams alive.
“I grew up with my dad. He worked so hard to allow us to live,” he recalls. “Our refrigerator was never full, we did not have much to eat.
“For example, when we went to play youth tournaments in Germany with the spring team of Malmo I had to ask 3000 crowns from my dad.
“So what did he do? He left me this money and did not pay the rent for a month, and he sent me to play these tournaments, because he did everything he could and gave me all the opportunities that were there.”
It all paid off in the end for Ibrahimovic, who has gone on to enjoy one of the great club careers in the history of the game, having won titles in the Eredivisie with Ajax, Serie A with Milan and Inter, La Liga at Barcelona and Ligue 1 with PSG.
While he has not won a Premier League title to date, his Manchester United side sit second in the league table, eight points back of rivals Manchester City.
The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the year’s best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Eason’s, or order it here today (€10):
#ZlatanDoesWhatZlatanWants
A decent player , but says he wanted to be the best is stretching the elastic , a lot better centre forwards in his era that were a class above him .
@David Mc Nally: he says in his mind he was the best , no one was better ? A bit delusional I’d say
@Tricksy: that was when he was 18. A cocktail kid that flew through the ranks on Sweden once he made his senior debut. Also, in his autobiography he says it was his agent that wouldn’t allow the trial as he felt it was a weak position to negotiate from.
Looked at ronaldo and Romario and wanted to prove I was the best.. I’m afraid you will never be as good as those 2 were!!
Hill billy f..k with a man bun
@Kev Creed: its called a top knot
@Mark Smith: man buns and top knots are two different things. Gonna get ridiculed here for pointing that out though
Good lad Zlatan, legend.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
He’s trying too hard with this persona.