“I’m honoured by the interest of a club such as Juventus” – Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Sound familiar? That’s because Zlatan has said these words before, nine years ago when the enigmatic Swedish striker wanted out of the Netherlands and the Turin giants were his chosen suitor.
Now, nearly a decade, a scandal, four clubs and 202 goals later, Ibracadabra could be on the way back to work his magic at the club that gave him his first foray into Italian football.
At 31, Ibrahimovic has never been in better form, scoring 32 goals in 42 appearances since his arrival in the French capital and turning Ligue 1 into the “Zlatan Ibrahimovic Plus 19 Other Teams Show”‘ with his almost embarrassingly dominant play.
Juventus are also in the market for a top striker despite acquiring Fernando Llorente from Athletic Bilbao for next season and Ibrahimovic could fit in nicely alongside or behind Llorente in coach Antonio Conte’s 3-5-1-1 system. He can also provide a consistent level of quality in the forward positions that has been strikingly lacking despite Juventus’s one man stroll to a consecutive league success.
The likes of Sebastian Giovinco, Mirko Vucinic, Alessandro Matri and Fabio Quagliarella are simply not good enough as an offensive cohort to make a serious dent into European competition – combining for just 34 Serie A goals between them – Giovinco being the highest scorer with just 10.
Ibrahimovic, despite not being the lanky prospect he was when he joined Juventus in 2004, has now developed into one of the most feared strikers in the world game and would, excuse the pun, stand head and shoulders above his prospective teammates at Vinovo.
Bayern Munich proved that if Juventus’ midfield can be stifled, the majority of their attacking threat becomes muted, too. Juve need a forward who is capable of winning a game on their own, a situation Ibrahimovic is more than capable of, having done that on regular occasions for both Milan clubs.
The politics behind Ibra’s potential transfer are understandably sensitive considering the nature of his exit in the wake of the Calciopoli scandal in 2006. His quickfire transfer to hated rivals Inter was seen as a slap in the face to the club that are largely responsible for Ibrahimovic being as successful as he is, but a certain amount of pragmatism is necessary.
It is worth taking a closer look at the situation surrounding the Swede’s exit from Juventus before assuming Ibrahimovic’s intentions.
The scandal that erupted, while the majority of Juventus’ players were at the 2006 World Cup, provided an unprepared shock for many players and led to chaotic calls to agents and quickfire moves.
It’s not appropriate to expect Ibra to stick with the bona fide Juventus heroes such as Gianluigi Buffon and Pavel Nedved in Serie B and fight for promotion. Meanwhile, Inter were certainly ill-advised in terms of the choices available – from Ibra and Mino Raiola’s point of view, it was the most logical.
Inter and AC Milan expressed the most interest in securing the services of the Swede in 2006, but fears over Milan’s participation in the Champions League the following season were shrouded in doubt. Inter, by that point the new home of former teammate Patrick Viera, made a great deal of sense.
Ibra moved out of circumstance and not choice, that much should be remembered. Nedved’s apparent willingness for the current transfer deal to go through, despite the “betrayal” many Juventus supporters believe he suffered at the hands of Ibrahimovic, is evident that the club is aware that it is time to move on from Calciopoli.
Ibra’s forced exit from AC Milan in the summer of 2012 and unhappiness with Parisian life thereafter has presented Juventus with the opportunity to add a truly world class player to their ranks. Like Andrea Pirlo in 2011, age, wages and past employers should have little bearing on whether to take a second punt on Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
