"Ibrahimovic"

by Gena Milanesi

Print Size 11 x 14 in

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish footballer, who currently plays as a striker for Barcelona and the Swedish national team. He is of Bosnian and Croatian parentage.

Ibrahimovic started his career at Malmö FF in the late 90's under Roland Andersson. He was signed by Ajax, and made a name for himself under Ronald Koeman. Years later, he signed with Juventus for €16 million. Ibrahimovic gained fame and popularity in the Italian top flight while having a striking partnership with Alessandro Del Piero. After playing for the bianconeri, he made his move to league giants Inter Milan in 2006. His record breaking performances led him to awards such as the Oscar del Calcio, the Guldbollen, and being named in the 2007 UEFA Team of the Year. In the summer of 2009, he transferred to Barcelona, while continuing to break records and receive awards.

As of February 2009, Ibrahimovic, along with Kaká, were the highest salaried football players in the world with an annual pay of €9 million. Ibrahimovic won the Capocannoniere on 31 May 2009 with 25 domestic goals during the season. Ibrahimovic currently holds the record for the second highest transfer fee in football history, with a total of €69 million for his transfer from Internazionale to Barcelona.

Twice footballing Manager of the Year, José Mourinho, said in an interview to The Sun on 5 March 2009, I think there are four outstanding players in the world - Ibrahimovic, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Kaká. At the moment, I think I have the best in the four - the best player in the world [Zlatan Ibrahimovic].