Zlatan: oh, he’s still got it
“DID YOU SEE THE LAST DANCE? I’M NOT MICHAEL JORDAN BUT I SEE MYSELF IN HIS WAY OF WORKING” Bravado follows Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but why change when you back it up? Now 39, the Swede retains his magic
Who cares if he’s nearing 40? Not when he’s still this good...
“Ihaven’t come here as a mascot, to stand next to the devil and dance.”
On January 3, Zlatan Ibrahimovic was unveiled for his second spell at Milan, and he had a message for his doubters. He could have easily delivered the same sentence three and a half years earlier, when he signed for Manchester United.
Back then, aged 34, many asked if Zlatan was too old for the Premier League, after a supposedly easy life at Paris Saint- Germain in Ligue 1. He responded emphatically with 28 goals in 2016- 17.
Fast- forward to 2020 and the 39- year- old is still scoring as regularly as ever. If some thought Zlatan’s return to Milan might be as an impact sub, an old war horse to chuck on when games weren’t going well, it’s turned out to be nothing of the sort. Ibrahimovic had no intention of watching matches from the sidelines, alongside anthropomorphic devil mascot Milanello: a more sinister version of Fred the Red.
By late November, Ibra had smashed 20 goals in 24 league games during 2020 and was Serie A’s top scorer in the new season, despite sitting out two of the opening three matches because of coronavirus. Milan were 11th when Ibrahimovic returned in January: after eight games of 2020- 21, the Rossoneri led the table.
Had things been different, Zlatan could have been a Leeds player right now. Andrea Radrizzani attempted to recruit the Swede for the second half of the Whites’ promotion campaign, when it became clear the veteran was leaving LA Galaxy.
“I spoke concretely with him, but he chose to go to Milan,” said Leeds’ owner.
The seven- time European champions were searching for a saviour: staring at their worst league position since 1983, following a 5- 0 tonking at Atalanta in their final game before Christmas. They turned to the spearhead of their last title- winning campaign, in 2010- 11.
Ibrahimovic scored 56 goals in two seasons during his first stint at San Siro, rejuvenated after a nightmare time under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona. He was flogged to PSG, despite coach Carlo Ancelotti voicing concerns about
his age – even at 30. “The policy of PSG is to invest in young talent – he doesn’t fall inside our parameters,” Ancelotti had commented earlier that summer.
Maybe Milan had concerns about Zlatan’s age, too, given the knockdown € 20m transfer fee. “I didn’t want to leave,” Ibrahimovic has since claimed. “It was a corporate decision.”
He was never replaced, and Milan slipped into the wilderness – they haven’t qualified for the Champions League since 2013.
In his first start after returning to the club, Ibra found the net at Cagliari. He had struck a steady if unspectacular three goals in eight league games, when lockdown hit.
“I came to Italy to finish my career with a great club, because they were telling me that in America it was far too easy,” he said. “I came back, then they stopped everything. I thought, ‘ Perhaps there’s something trying to tell me I should retire’.”
Having only inked a contract until the end of the season, it looked like it might be a brief stay – particularly after an argument with chief executive Ivan Gazidis, which ended up in the newspapers.
Maybe it just made him more determined. When Serie A resumed in June, Ibrahimovic plundered seven goals in 10 appearances to help Milan finish sixth.
Eventually penning a new 12- month deal, he kicked off 2020- 21 with a brace against Bologna. Not even a layoff with coronavirus could stop Zlatan roaring back, with eight more goals in his next five Serie A matches – two in a Derby della Madonnina victory over Inter, a fortnight after his 39th birthday.
Since the turn of the 21st century, no player aged 38 or above had registered 10 goals in a campaign in any of the top five European leagues. Ibrahimovic has done it twice since his return to Italian shores – his finishing is clearly as sharp as ever.
“I didn’t expect this,” Massimo Ambrosini, who played alongside Zlatan when Milan last clinched the title in 2010- 11, tells FFT. “I’d be curious to know if he expected it either, or if it’s been a surprise for him as well. To me, his choice to return to Milan was hazardous – it was a great challenge. He had a desire to do it, he was physically fine and wasn’t afraid of the challenge, but it was a risk.
“He was right, though. He’s impressed me a lot, and his impact has been crucial. How is he doing it? Just because he’s very good! He knows what to do, he always puts himself in the game and forces others to do the same.
“Zlatan stimulates the others – he’s never satisfied, he’s ambitious. When we enjoyed success together, he was pivotal. In the hard times, we all clung to him. He challenged us from the beginning to the end of training – he’s a decisive and wonderful player.
“Looking at his physical fitness, he can keep scoring at 40 because his athletic shape is better now than two or three years ago. Can he help Milan to win the league this season? I’d say that’s complicated. But if it’s making them credible and aspiring to qualify for the Champions League, I’d say absolutely yes, he can do that.”
Ibrahimovic has undoubtedly been Milan’s driving force. “Did you watch The Last Dance, the documentary about Michael Jordan?” he said recently. “I’m not saying I’m Jordan, but I see myself in his way of working, in what he demands of himself and others.
“A lot of people say only the game counts. But for me, no – how you practise is how you play the game. I want 200 per cent from my team- mates, always, like I want from myself. Not everyone is Ibra, that’s OK, but you have to bring the best you can.”
Zlatan has been doing that ever since he turned pro in 1999. While the tallies of some historical players are disputed – we’re looking at you, Pele – some claimed he had joined the top 10 goalscorers of all- time when he struck his 554th in November. Either way, 2020 has cemented his status as a great.
Only three men have ever netted in Serie A aged 40, but don’t bet against Ibrahimovic being the fourth. “If there’s a project which stimulates me, I could play at the same level until I’m 50,” he declared, not long before his return to the Rossoneri.
It seemed like he was joking, although with Zlatan, you’re never quite sure.