"I am Zlatan." Few footballers have been as arrogant as Zlatan Ibrahimović, and few had the skills to back it up. He elbowed opponents, compared himself to God and once told Pep Guardiola to his face, "you have no balls". He was a controversy that walked, talked and fought.
The Swede played from 1999 to 2023 for Malmö, Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, PSG, Manchester United and LA Galaxy.
What did Zlatan say to Guardiola?
"You have no balls." He said it after he was dropped at Barcelona. It was one of many lines. He called France "a country of s***", and when he left PSG he announced: "I came like a king, left like a legend." Modesty was never part of the act.
On the pitch he elbowed, kicked and slapped opponents throughout his career, and he picked up several bans for it.
He also scored over 500 career goals, and he is one of the best strikers the game has seen. The ego was the problem. Even the biggest dressing rooms in the world struggled to hold it. A villain, yes, but a spectacular one.
Tomorrow: number 12.
