Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s epic journey gets one more stop in Manchester

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s epic journey gets one more stop in Manchester

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Footballers often speak of their careers as a journey. This regularly abused metaphor rarely fits the daily grind of training, playing and recovering that consumes most careers. But if one man’s time on the pitch could ever have been described as a journey, it is surely Zlatan Ibrahimovic. What a journey it has been.

Ibrahimovic will be a Manchester United player next season. That is official after the Swedish star announced the move last week. A long anticipated stint to the Premier League will cap off what has been one of the greatest careers in European football history. The man who refers to himself as Zlatan has the ability to fill one of the biggest remaining gaps in his CV. A cherished Premier League title.

In terms of European club football success, ‘Ibra’ has basically done it all. Since leaving Malmo as a 20-year old, he has won 13 league titles in four different countries with six different teams. This includes two Eredivisies at Ajax before controversially moving to Juventus where he won two Scudetti in two years, both of which were removed due to the Calciopoli scandal. As Juventus were relegated to Serie B, Ibrahimovic jumped ship to rivals Inter, where he saw a further three titles in-a-row before departing for Spain and winning La Liga with Barcelona in his only season in Catalonia.

READ MORE: Manchester United, welcome to Zlatan

His ill-fated time there was cut short as he transferred back to Italy, this time to AC Milan, where he again won the Serie A in 2010-11. Between 2003 and 2011, Ibrahimovic won a league title in every single season, in three different countries and at five different teams. It is a truly remarkable effort and possibly one that may never be replicated. His next stop was off to Paris Saint-Germain, where his side has won the Ligue 1 title for the past four years.

In that time has has been incredibly consistent. He has not scored less than 20 goals in a season since 2006-07 and managed an incredible 50 from 51 appearances in a dominant PSG outfit over 2015-16. Not bad for a 34-year-old. His impact goes far beyond his goals though, with Ibrahimovic responsible for some of the most creative and sensational moments of the modern era. 

Along with Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho, the Swede is the only player to have scored a goal in the Derby della Madonnina, El Clasico in Spain and Le Classique in France. He will have the chance to the add the Manchester derby and the Liverpool-Manchester United showdowns to that impressive list.

But his list of accomplishments is not complete. There are three notable exceptions to Zlatan’s almost perfect list of achievements. The Premier League, Champions League and Bundesliga have all eluded him so far. For a man of such renown, and wages, his landing spots were scarce when he decided to leave Paris. A move back to Barcelona was always unlikely. As was a deal with Real Madrid, who have recently reinforced their already brimming striking options. That left Premier League giants Manchester United and Chelsea, plus Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga – where he would surely be playing second fiddle to Robert Lewandowski.

A move to Bayern would have probably granted him instant Bundesliga success and a genuine chance at winning the Champions League in his first year. Zlatan will be 35 in October  and despite his ageless play in recent seasons, time is not on his side.

His eventual move to Manchester United will not give him the chance at winning the UCL this season. Nor is Premier League success assured. In what is undoubtedly going to be one of the most open English top-flight seasons in recent memory (no less than seven teams would believe themselves genuine chances to win), nothing will be guaranteed. But perhaps that was the appeal of moving to Manchester from Paris, where success had been certain given PSG’s towering financial domination of the league.

Ibrahimovic will have to work to write the fairytale ending to his otherwise heroic career. He will be well-assisted in Manchester, teaming up with former coach and another man with a knack for winning titles wherever he goes in Jose Mourinho. Reunited for the first time since their spree of dominance at Inter Milan, Zlatan and Mourinho will be the men charged with return United to their winning ways after several seasons in the wilderness following Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure. Both men have the character, confidence and ability to replace the legendary Scot. Even Ferguson would reflect kindly on their unparalleled levels of success. 

Whatever the future has in store for Zlatan, nothing should be taken away from what has undoubtedly been one of  the greatest careers in modern history  – and certainly one of the most entertaining. Adding a Premier League crown to his vast horde of prizes and titles would be a fitting end to one of football’s great and entertaining journeys.   

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