New Manchester United signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic is known for his sharp tongue just as much as his ability on the football pitch.
Here, we take a look at some of his best utterances.
– “Zlatan doesn’t do auditions” – the response when Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger offered the then-teenaged Ibrahimovic a trial.
– “I can’t help but laugh at how perfect I am” – on his own talent.
– “Swedish style? No. Yugoslavian style? Of course not. It has to be Zlatan-style” – more of the same.
– “What Carew does with a football, I can do with an orange” – in response to Norway striker John Carew’s suggestions that Ibrahimovic’s flicks and tricks were “pointless”.
– “First I went left; he did too. Then I went right and he did too. Then I went left again and he went to buy a hot dog” – on how he twisted Liverpool defender Stephane Henchoz inside-out.
– “When you buy me, you are buying a Ferrari. If you drive a Ferrari you put premium petrol in the tank, you hit the motorway and you step on the gas. Guardiola filled up with diesel and took a spin in the countryside. He should have bought a Fiat” – on his sole season at Barcelona where he endured a tense relationship with then coach Pep Guardiola, now across Manchester with City.
– “We’re looking for an apartment. If we don’t find anything, then I’ll probably just buy the hotel” – at his unveiling as a PSG player.
– “It’s true I don’t know much about the players here, but they definitely know who I am” – on his move to Ligue 1 in 2012.
– “We were looking through his playlist in the dressing room – there was lots of Justin Bieber, Jonas Brothers and Selena Gomez. It is nice to know that even David Beckham doesn’t have good taste in everything” – on his former PSG team-mate’s music choices.
– “Only God knows who will go through” – interviewer replies ‘It’s hard to ask him’ – “You’re talking to him” – that Ibrahimovic ego again in the lead-up to the 2014 World Cup play-offs.
– “A World Cup without me is nothing to watch, so it is not worth waiting for the World Cup” – Following Sweden’s defeat by Portugal in the play-offs.
