AC Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic has explained why he turned down the offer to join Arsenal in 2000.
Before he left Malmo for Ajax in 2001, the Swede was on the verge of completing a move to Arsenal and he now reveals Arsene Wenger even gave him the Gunners jersey with his name on it.
“Arsene gave me the famous red and white jersey — the No 9 shirt with Ibrahimovic on it and I was so pleased I even posed for a picture wearing it,” Ibrahimovic told The Sun.
“It was a fantastic moment for me. Arsenal had a great team then and here was an Arsenal shirt made just for me.”
However, the experienced striker claims he was disappointed by the fact that Arsenal wanted him to undergo a trial at Highbury.
“So then I waited for him to convince me that I should join Arsenal. But he didn’t even try.
“He never actually made me a serious offer, it was more ‘I want to see how good you are, what kind of player you are. Have a trial’.
“I couldn’t believe it. I was like ‘No way, Zlatan doesn’t do auditions’.”
Ibrahimovic appears to have made the right choice as he went to make a name for himself at Ajax before moving to Juventus in 2004.
The Swede then had very successful spells at Juventus and Inter before joining Barcelona in July 2009, although he failed to prove his worth at Camp Nou.
Ibrahimovic successfully kick-started his career at Milan, and has been in brilliant form this season, scoring 18 goals in 20 Serie A games.
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