Zlatan Ibrahimovic wants to conquer the English Premier League. The 34-year-old Swede, who had interest from MLS, is reuniting with former boss and fellow iconic ego Jose Mourinho at Manchester United. And it will cost the club a pretty penny.
The striker is reportedly looking to finalize a one-year contract worth approximately $319,330 per week. Ibrahimovic and the Swedish national team begin Euro 2016 against the Republic of Ireland on June 13.
BREAKING NEWS: Sky Sources: Zlatan Ibrahimovic to sign for Manchester United on one-year contract.
Ibrahimovic has won 13 league titles and 30 trophies in 15 seasons with European giants Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, A.C. Milan and Paris Saint-Germain, but a Champions league winner’s medal still eludes him. Mourinho, who left Chelsea in December “by mutual consent” and in 16th place after amassing just 15 points from its first 16 league games, has won 21 trophies over the past 13 seasons with Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, and Real Madrid, including a pair of Champions League wins.
While coaching Ibrahimovic during Inter Milan’s 2008-09 Serie A win, Mourinho seemed more than happy with the partnership.
Cristiano Ronaldo “is a good player but he is certainly not the best,” Mourinho said. “He deserved the Golden Ball award because his team won the Champions League and the Premier League. But, for me, Ibrahimovic is the best.”
Manchester United has won a record 13 titles since the Premier League started in 1992-93. Only five other teams have hoisted the trophy, with Chelsea having the second-most, at four. The Red Devils’ last league triumph, though, came after the 2012-13 campaign, the final season of Scottish manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s 26-year reign. Last season, they finished fifth.
Zlatan, whose Croatian mother and Bosnian father met after emigrating to Sweden, has scored 302 goals in 484 club appearances since making his professional debut in 1999. He also will bring with him arguably the best quotes in sports (and undoubtedly the most vain).
“I came like a king, left like a legend,” Zlatan tweeted before his final game with PSH in May.
“One thing is for sure: a World Cup without me is nothing to watch,” he said after Sweden failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup.
“Nothing. She already has Zlatan,” replied Zlatan when asked what he would buy his wife for her birthday.
“Zlatan doesn’t do auditions,” declared Zlatan in 2000, before he was even famous, when asked to have a trial for Arsenal.
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And finally, before a 2014 World Cup playoff qualification playoff with Portugal, he compared himself to God.
Reporter: “Who will win the World Cup playoff?”
Zlatan: “Only God knows.”
Reporter: “It’s kind of hard to ask him.”
Zlatan: “Why? You’re looking at him now.”
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