Zlatan Ibrahimović Trivia: 50 fun facts about the footballer!

Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish professional footballer who plays currently as a striker for Manchester United. Let’s see some awesome facts and trivia about him!

1. Zlatan Ibrahimović was born in Sweden to a Muslim Bosniak father, Šefik Ibrahimović, who emigrated to Sweden in 1977, and a Croatian Catholic mother, Jurka Gravić, who had also emigrated to Sweden, where the couple first met.

2. His father was born in Bijeljina, Bosnia, and his mother was born in the village of Prkos near Škabrnja in Croatia’s Zadar County.

3. After receiving a pair of football boots, Zlatan Ibrahimović began playing at the age of six, alternating between local junior clubs Malmö BI and FBK Balkan.

4. While in his early teens, he was a regular for his hometown club Malmö FF.

5. At the age of 15, Ibrahimović was close to quitting his football career, in favour of working at the docks in Malmö, but his manager convinced him to continue playing.

6. His idol was Brazilian star Ronaldo when he was growing up

7. Zlatan Ibrahimović signed his first contract with Malmö in 1996, and moved up to the senior side for the 1999 season of Allsvenskan, Sweden’s top-flight league.

8. That season, Malmö finished 13th in the league and were relegated to the second division, but returned to the top flight the next season.

9. Arsène Wenger unsuccessfully tried to persuade Ibrahimović to join Arsenal, while Leo Beenhakker also expressed interest in the player after watching him in a friendly against Norwegian side Moss FK.

10. On 22 March 2001, a deal between Ajax and Malmö regarding Ibrahimović’s transfer to Amsterdam was announced, and in July, Ibrahimović officially joined Ajax for 80 million Swedish kronor (€8.7 million)

11. Zlatan Ibrahimović received little playing time under manager Co Adriaanse, but when Adriaanse was sacked on 29 November 2001, new coach Ronald Koeman inserted Ibrahimović into the starting lineup as Ajax won the 2001–02 Eredivisie title.

12. The next season, Ibrahimović scored twice in a 2–1 victory over French champions Lyon in his Champions League debut on 17 September 2002. He scored five Champions League goals overall as Ajax fell to A.C. Milan in the quarter-finals.

13. In his final season with Ajax, Ibrahimović’s profile rose when he scored a goal against NAC on 22 August 2004 that was eventually voted the “Goal of the Year” by Eurosport viewers.

14. On 18 August 2004, during an international match against the Netherlands, Ibrahimović injured Ajax teammate Rafael van der Vaart, who later accused Ibrahimović of hurting him intentionally. This led to Ibrahimović’s sudden sale to Juventus on 31 August.

15. ZlatanIbrahimović moved from Ajax to Juventus for €16 million.

16. He was promptly inserted into the starting eleven due in part to top scorer David Trezeguet’s injury problems, and scored sixteen goals.

17. Near the end of the season, Juventus reportedly rejected a €70 million bid for him from Real Madrid, which was later revealed to be a publicity stunt initiated by Ibrahimović’s agent, Mino Raiola, in order to increase his market value.

18. On 14 November 2005, he was awarded the Guldbollen, a prize awarded to the best Swedish footballer of the year.

19. The following season was poor compared to his first season; his role in Juventus’ attack changed, as he became less of a goalscorer and moved more to the sidelines, taking much part in the build-up play, especially as a target player, and his assist numbers increased.

20. In the 2005–06 season, Juventus fans often got frustrated with him due to his anonymous presence in certain important games such as the Champions League defeat to Arsenal. Juventus were stripped of their last two Scudetti as part of the verdict from the Calciopoli scandal, and were relegated to Serie B. The new staff tried to persuade Ibrahimović and other top players to stay with Juventus, but the player and his agent were adamant to move on, with Raiola threatening legal action in order to extricate Ibrahimović from his contract.

21. On 10 August 2006, Ibrahimović completed a €24.8 million move to Inter Milan, signing a four-year-deal, this coming only a few days after 30-year-old midfielder Patrick Vieira had completed his own transfer from Juve to the Nerazzurri.

22. Zlatan Ibrahimović revealed that he had supported Inter when he was young.

23. Zlatan Ibrahimović ended the 2008–09 Serie A season as the league’s top goalscorer with 25 goals, helping Inter to another league title.

24. He was also named both “Footballer of the Year” and “Foreign Footballer of the Year” for the second consecutive season

25. After Maxwell completed his transfer to Barcelona, president Joan Laporta confirmed that there was an agreement in principle between Barcelona and Inter for Ibrahimović to join the club in exchange for Samuel Eto’o, plus a reported fee of £59 million

26. Zlatan Ibrahimović finished the season with a sixth-best 16 league goals, as Barcelona won La Liga with 99 points in 38 matches. He scored his final goal for Barcelona in a Spanish Super Cup match on 14 August in a 3–1 defeat over Sevilla, and on 25 August, he played his last match for the club against A.C. Milan for the Joan Gamper Trophy, after which he claimed to the media that his relationship with coach Pep Guardiola had started deteriorating and that Guardiola had not spoken to him since February

27. On 28 August 2010, A.C. Milan announced via their official website that they had acquired the services of Ibrahimović for the 2010–11 season.

28. Zlatan Ibrahimović received a three-match ban, after being shown a red card in a 1–1 home draw against Bari in March 2011 for punching Bari defender Marco Rossi in the stomach.

29. On 17 July 2012, Paris Saint-Germain confirmed that they had reached an agreement to acquire the sporting and economic rights of Ibrahimović from A.C. Milan, having already agreed personal terms with the striker, for an initial transfer fee of around €20 million, making Ibrahimović the most expensive footballer in combined transfer fees. Valued at €180 million, these combined fees eclipsed those commanded by Nicolas Anelka.

30. On 1 July 2016, Ibrahimović signed as a free agent for Manchester United on a one-year contract, which had the option of being extended depending on his performance for the club.

31. His salary is reported to be £200,000 per week. He was handed the number 9 jersey ahead of the 2016–17 season

32. Zlatan Ibrahimović has been involved in several violent incidents with teammates, some of which have gone viral on the internet.
After a 2004 international friendly against the Netherlands, Ajax teammate Rafael van der Vaart publicly accused Ibrahimović of deliberately injuring him during the game.

33. Ibrahimović responded by threatening to break both of Van der Vaart’s legs.

34. Zlatan Ibrahimović also punched Ajax teammate Mido in the dressing room after the latter had thrown a pair of scissors at him

35. Zlatan Ibrahimović has two siblings and three half-siblings.

36. His longtime partner is Helena Seger with whom he has two sons: Maximilian (born 22 September 2006) and Vincent (born 6 March 2008).

37. He currently resides outside Manchester, although he still has a home in Malmö where he spends his summers.

38. Zlatan Ibrahimović received an honorary black belt in taekwondo; he attended classes at the Malmö Taekwondo club Enighet (English: Unity) as a child.

39. Zlatan Ibrahimović is fluent in five languages; Swedish, Bosnian, English, Spanish and Italian.

40. In interviews, Ibrahimović has stressed both his Muslim and Catholic parentage, and is religiously syncretic; in November 2015 he told CNN that his Muslim background is “not a factor” in French fans’ perception of him: “My father is Muslim and my mother is Catholic,” he said. “For me it is all about respect. That’s how I grew up and the way I learned to be. This is what I am.”

41.The name Zlatan was trademarked in May 2003 at the Swedish Patent and Registration Office for “most likely being perceived as Zlatan Ibrahimović”, which meant that he received exclusive rights to the name for certain products, including sporting goods, clothing, and shoes.

42. He is under contract with Nike and features in their television advertising where he has appeared alongside other players in the Nike stable including Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Wayne Rooney.

43. On 17 May 2006, “Who’s da Man” a song performed by Elias, featuring Swedish child singer Frans was released in tribute to Ibrahimović sung in the Scanian dialect of Swedish. The song was the biggest summer Swedish hit of 2006, staying at number one of the Sverigetopplistan official singles chart for 10 consecutive weeks.

44. Zlatan Ibrahimović wears the Nike Mercurial boot line and has the names and dates of birth of his sons embedded onto the external sides of his boots.

45. In late 2007, Ibrahimović, with the help of Nike, self-funded Zlatan Court in the streets of the city district Rosengård in his hometown Malmö: he provided a playing mat, goalposts, lighting, and a modern fence.

46. In 2008, he donated new Nike kits to his youth club, FBK Balkan.

47. While in Malmö with the national team in September 2012, Ibrahimović was honoured with the inscription of his name on the city’s “Walk of Fame of Sports”.

48. Ibrahimović features in EA Sports’ FIFA video game series, and was the fourth highest rated player in FIFA 15.

49. His height is 1.95 metres

50. The term “To Zlatan” has also been added to the Swedish national dictionary and is widely used around the world, with the meaning to dominate or do something with extreme talent.