The Ibrahimovic Affect
Paris Saint-Germain splashed €20m on the precocious and somewhat misunderstood talent of Zlatan Ibrahimovic last week hot on the heels of securing his AC Milan team-mate Thiago Silva.
Much has been made of the strides PSG have been making off the pitch since the Qatar Investment Authority became the majority shareholder of PSG after buying a controlling 70% of the shares in 2011. €108m on players in the first season included various raids of Serie A’s talent thanks to AC Milan legend Leonardo being installed as Director of Football at Parc des Princes. None too surprisingly, the Brazilian was at the heart of the deals to bring in two of Milan’s prime-time players. With the red and black inhabitants of the San Siro not the force on a financial plane they once were, they like many other big clubs in Europe are powerless to the French capitals resources.
In acquiring the Swedish hit-man, PSG have made Ibrahimovic the most expensive player in the history of football when you add all his transfer fees together. €180m Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, Milan and now PSG have collectively spent on the forward and the money doesn’t stop there for Zlats. €14m a season for three years, which is €2m more a year than what he was on at Milan, makes him the second highest paid footballer in World football behind Samuel Eto’o who’s enjoying his oil money in Russia.
However, when you watch the lanky front-man, a lot of fans can be dismayed and blinkered by Ibrahimovic’s lazy work-ethic and attitude. His talents aren’t traditional industry or heart-felt courage and although many fans in the stands can resonate with a common man’s attributes more readily, the Malmo-born star has an arsenal that eludes the most diminutive players in the game. Just because Zlats isn’t hounding down every defender doesn’t negate his technical superiority, aerial dominance and inventive finishing qualities. He has the ability to turn any game on its head and whilst he almost lies dormant for periods of games, Zlats can in an instant conjure an array of tricks and beat any player, which he has a habit of doing when it counts. His record speaks for itself.
Watching Ibra on a one-off occasion or perhaps on a big stage at a tournament like most English observers might, won’t show you the whole picture. Like Ryan Giggs in some ways, though perhaps not quite such on a diluted scale, his representation of Sweden hinders his quality and impact at major tournaments by being surrounded with inferior players. On the domestic scene however, he has played a lot of big clubs, and won a lot of big trophies – that doesn’t happen by accident.
Ibrahimovic has won the league title for every club he has ever represented. In 2011 he won his first Scudetto with Milan. He was therefore on a streak of eight straight league wins in three different countries and with five different clubs, including the later stripped wins with Juventus. His influence cannot be denied as along the way to all of his titles as he only didn’t top the league goal scoring charts for two seasons out of the nine league titles (one of which was at Barca where he played foil to Lionel Messi) and he has also been a part of the same record twice. Inter broke the record for points in one season for a 20 team league when they amassed 97 points in the Mourinho era with Ibra leading the line, but the striker then broke the record again with his very next club Barcelona who managed 99 points on their way to romping La Liga.
Ibrahimovic’s arrival in France may be the marquee signing everyone thinks it is for commercial and public value, sure. But what you do get with the Swede is someone who has seen and done it in major leagues and spearheaded those assaults. With PSG failing to capture the league in their first season of being Qatari bank-rolled, the pressure is on for Carlo Ancelotti and indeed their new main man to end the 18-year wait for a league title. To grab the proverbial brass ring that the Parisians so dearly crave, the Ligue 1 title is the first port of call before impacting upon Europe.
After signing the likes of Jeremy Menez, Thiago Motta and Mohammed Sissoko, they’ve finally added a proven champion to lead them. Make no mistake, Ibrahimovic is a much savvier piece of business than the naked eye might detect. You could argue Ibra has always played for big clubs and therefore has had a better chance of success, but winning Serie A with three different clubs goes some way to disprove that. Be prepared to watch him spearhead yet another league title win.
