AC Milan signs Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression” William Somerset Maugham

Yesterday`s “breaking news” announced the inevitable: Italian football giant AC Milan has signed Barcelona outcast Zlatan Ibrahimovic for a fee that is hard to establish (but around 24 million Euro), and practically varies by each website/source that one reads. This is a rather interesting twist in Milan`s signing policy of late as it has been well publicised how Berlusconi is not willing and cannot to spend any money on strengthening the Rossoneri squad. In my opinion Galliani & Co. did well to land the giant Sweed for a rather cut-price (regardless which source do you believe) but it`s hard to ignore the fact that Barcelona -only recently admitting to having financial difficulties- just probably made their worst transfer deal of the club`s history.

Let start from the beginning just to see what makes Ibrahimovic so irresistible that the best clubs in the World (Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, Ac Milan) just cannot keep their hands off the Swedish captain. I was never big fan of Ibrahimovic, and honestly was rather worried when the media first started linking him to AC Milan. I was afraid my club will indulge in spending far too much money for very little value. Of course by following Italian football day and night I am no stranger to his talent, but I was never mesmerized by it either. In my books he will go down as a decent player and not a whole lot more really.

Career in brief:

1999 – 2001 – Malmo FF

2001 – 2004 – Ajax Amsterdam

2004 – 2006 – Juventus

2006 – 2009 – Internazionale

2009 – 2010 – Barcelona

2010 – loan – AC Milan

The list looks rather impressive, but I am still not convinced that this is a true mirror image of Ibrahimovic`s talent.

• He spent only 3 years at Ajax but has appeared in over a 100 games, scoring 49 goals.
• His time at Juventus is forgettable: Ibrahimovic never really fulfilled his potential there, and when the Calciopoli scandal broke, his infamous agent Mino Raiola did everything in his power to rescue the Swede from his contract and his commitments.
• The player was quickly shipped to rivals Internazionale where he has not only enjoyed 3 successive Scudetti and a couple of individual awards with it, but also managed to get both Roberto Mancini and Jose Mourinho to worship the ground he was walking on......
• But the craziest thing was still yet to come. His bizarre transfer deal-swap to Barcelona in 2009, involving none else but the super talented Samuel Eto`o and crazy amounts of money.

 

Playing for Barcelona was always his dream apparently (they have just won about 5 trophies that season), and he never made any secret of his desire to leave Inter as quick as possible. I can only imagine how Massimo Moratti couldn`t believe his luck when the club has not only received a lot of cash for the giant Swede, but they have also managed to secure the services of the incredible Samuel Eto`o. Last year everyone was talking about Ronaldo`s big transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid, but truth to be told the Ibrahimovic-saga just stole the show.

I would love to know what an earth is going on in Barcelona`s dressing and board rooms. Is it really that difficult to get on with the ever so pleasant and polite Pep Guardiola as both Eto`o and Ibrahimov claim in their allegations? Or is it a Catalan thing (or in their case not being one)? Or are both players just too full of themselves? I honestly don`t know. But something mad had to happen between Guardiola and Eto`o that made the Catalan club to fork out a whopping 69 million Euro for a Serie A has-been. As if Barcelona ever needed him......Well the 60,000.00 strong crowd who showed up in the Nou Camp when he was revealed in July 2009, very much thought so.

His brief career at Barcelona has seen him appearing in 29 games, scoring 16 goals, and being snapped by the paparazzi in a rather controversial position with team mate Gerard Pique. And of course leaving the Nou Camp with his tail between his legs......

Ok, so it didn`t quiet work out for Ibrahimovic with Juventus, his tenure at Inter was sort of ok by certain standards, but maybe it`s 3^rd time lucky for the giant striker, as he begins life as a Rossonero. Nobody knows what to expect from him: I admit to the fact that he is indeed talented, not crazily though, but could prove as a decent contribution to the current squad, and there is no denying that the team needs a strong striker up front. Let’s get rid of Marco Boriello and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, and see how Ibrahimovic gets on. All Milan have at the moment is the widely talented but very injury prone Brazilian kid, Pato, circus-master Ronaldinho and the ageless Inzaghi. It`s clear to see that this line up needs improvement, but in my eyes bringing in Ibrahimovic is just a master plan of Signor Berlusconi`s to quiet the unhappy fans but still not too spend too much money. The man has to be admired.

According to the news Ibrahimovic has signed a four-year deal with AC Milan, but by looking at his history with past clubs it is highly unlikely that he will be wearing a black and red jersey for that long. The man isn`t exactly known for his loyalty after all.

Now I just have to check out what are the odds that by next season Ibrahimovic will be kicking about in a sky-blue jersey somewhere on the East-side of Manchester........