Manchester United star Zlatan Ibrahimovic opens up about his infamous Arsenal trial of 2000… calling it a waste of time
Swedish ace felt insulted by Arsene Wenger's insistence he 'audition', so snubbed the Gunners and moved to Ajax instead
MANCHESTER UNITED star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has opened up about his infamous Arsenal trial of 2000... calling it a waste of time.
The Swedish star, now 36, claimed to feel insulted by Arsene Wenger's insistence he "audition", so snubbed the Gunners and moved to Ajax a year later.
After signing for the Dutch giants in 2001, Zlatan revealed: "I'd like to show them what they missed."
Back to the present day and Ibrahimovic has not forgotten famously posing with the Arsenal No9 jersey 16 years ago.
He told Sky Sports Italia: "I went to London for an appointment with Wenger, who asked me to audition for the Gunners.
"I told him 'I will not do a trial: either you take me or not, I'm not here to waste time'.
"I already had that kind of trust, because in my mind I was the strongest of all even when I was young.
"I met Wenger because I expected him to tell me to start with them right away. But Ibra does not test.
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"When I was young, in my mind no one was better than me.
"I watched Ronaldo, Romario and Baggio on TV and I had one goal: I wanted to show that I was the best."
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But it wasn't an easy path to the top for Ibrahimovic, who reveals he and his family struggled when he was a youngster.
Zlatan revealed: "I grew up with my dad. He worked so hard to allow us to live. Our refrigerator was never full, we did not have much to eat.
"For example, when we went to play youth tournaments in Germany with Malmo I had to ask 3000 Krona from my dad.
"So what did he do? He left me this money and did not pay the rent for a month, and he sent me to play these tournaments.
"He did everything he could and gave me all the opportunities that were there."