Ibrahimovic is a hypocrite over Man Utd and the Glazers – here’s the proof

Robin Bairner

6 Oct 2023 07:33 BST
4 min read

Former Manchester United player Zlatan Ibrahimovic has caused something of a stir over comments he made regarding the Glazer brothers ownership of the Old Trafford club.

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Ibrahimovic, who played with the Red Devils from 2016-2018 in a spell that was interrupted by a serious knee injury that many thought might end his career, claimed that he could not understand why Man Utd fans are protesting against the ownership of the club.

United supporters are continuing to campaign against the Glazers’ possession of their team, feeling that there has been a lack of investment both in the playing squad and the infrastructure around it, while the Americans are leaching money from the club without giving any tangible returns.

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Although the club has effectively been for sale for a year, little progress towards a buyout has apparently been made, with little change in the takeover situation throughout 2023.

Man Utd was the biggest club in the world during the years of Sir Alex Ferguson, Man Utd have won just an FA Cup, a Europa League and an EFL Cup since the Scot retired over a decade ago.

It is a record ill-befitting for Manchester United, but Ibrahimovic has refused to pin the blame on the Glazers.

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Speaking to TalkTV, he said: “I think now at Man Utd, I don't know, there are some kind of demonstrations about the owners to sell it and that, but just a reminder, the owners are investing.

“It is not like they are not investing because they brought in many players for a high amount of money, so I think it's a little bit wrong saying that they are not doing what the fans expect them to do, then I don't know what the real reason is behind everything.”

Ibrahimovic criticises ‘small mentality’

When Zlatan was a player at Man Utd, though, he hit out at the club’s penny-pinching mentality, which he described as “small”.

Writing in his autobiography, Adrenaline, in 2021, he recalls:

“One day I was in the hotel with the team before a game. I got thirsty so I opened the mini-bar and had a fruit juice.

“We played and then went home. Some time went by. My pay slip arrives. Normally I don’t look at it. I only do so at the end of the year to see what’s come in and what’s gone out. But that time, I don’t know why, I was curious and realised they’d taken a pound off my monthly wage.

“I called the team manager: ‘Excuse me, why have they taken a pound off my salary.’ The team manager had a look and told me: ‘It was the fruit juice from the mini-bar.’ ‘Are you kidding, seriously?’ ‘No, I’m not. Here, if you order something you have to pay for it.’ ‘Sure, but I didn’t go to the hotel on my own accord. I wasn’t on holiday. It was my workplace. I was there for Manchester. If I have to play and I'm thirsty, I have to drink. I can’t go on the pitch dehydrated.’

Can you believe it? A quid? Something like that would never happen in Italy. These are the details that make a difference and earn the respect of the players.

- Zlatan Ibrahimovic

“Can you believe it? A quid? Something like that would never happen in Italy. These are the details that make a difference and earn the respect of the players.

“Every day I was asked to show my papers just to get into the training ground. I’d lower my window and say to the person at the gate: ‘Listen my friend I’ve been coming here every day for a month. I’m the best player in the world. If you still don't recognise me, you’re in the wrong job.’”

If Zlatan can complain about losing the price of an orange juice from his multi-million-pound salary, surely, then Man Utd fans should be free to protest the under-investment in their club?