20 January 2024 , 12:52
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic's teammates during his time with LA Galaxy were left in fear of the Swedish striker, according to former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha.
Onuoha himself enjoyed a Major League Soccer stint at the end of his playing career, joining Real Salt Lake in September 2018, just months after Ibrahimovic made the move to the US. The Swede's impact was clear to see, having been named in the MLS Best XI, as well as winning the Newcomer of The Year and Goal of The Year awards in his first season.
Throughout his succesful playing career, Ibrahimovic has become known for his outlandish personality on and off the field, but one man who was left less than convinced was Onuoha.
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Speaking on the FilthyFellas YouTube channel, the ex-England under-21 defender revealed that he once played in an MLS game against Ibrahimovic where his teammates were left scared by his persona.
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His team were getting pumped, Onuoha said. "This describes who he was in that moment, his team were stinking it up at the back and all he's doing from the halfway line is shouting at how bad everyone is.
"He was saying 'you're no good, you guys are a disgrace, a disaster'. He's not running channels, he's just standing there.
"People who played with him in MLS played with fear because they were worried about upsetting him." That very game Onuoha himself find himself in a heated clash with the Swedish veteran, which boiled over into the dressing room post-match.
Zlatan and Ibrahimovic and Nedum Onuoha clashed during an MLS match (Getty Images)"When we played against him, it was my first time playing him, it was 0-0 and a bit of a dead game," The ball goes over the top and I stand behind him and he grabbed me by the neck and threw me to the floor. I'm laying on the floor looking at him like 'what are you doing?' and he was like 'get up'. I'm like "who are you talking to?"
"So I stand up and now I'm getting in his face saying "who are you talking to?", calling him this and that."
He went on: "I make it into the dressing room and I'm like hot because the game's gone the way it's gone, it's my first interaction with this guy, we're away from home and should've won.
"Two minutes later he came into the dressing room and was like 'have you calmed down yet?' I don't know this guy, I'm like again 'who are you talking to?' So now I'm pressing him. I get backed by one or two people telling him to "f***ing make his way out or whatever" but looking around there's only three of us who stepped up. The rest of them were just in shock."
In the end however, Onuoha believes standing up to Ibrahimovic ultimately earned him his respect the next time they faced off later in the season.
"I think he respected me for stepping up to him because a lot of people wouldn't have pushed back," he said. "I'm disappointed because he's got one of the best careers but also says stuff that I know people I know would never say about anyone."