Zlatan Ibrahimovic stint in MLS ended because "he wasn't a good teammate"
Zlatan Ibrahimovic called time on an illustrious career following AC Milan's final game of the season after a three year spell which followed a two-year stint in the MLS.
The Swedish forward was serenaded by those present at the San Siro as he announced his retirement from the game at the age of 41, signing off with an emotional address of the crowd. A tifo adorned the terraces with the caption 'Godbye', with his teammates also showing their respect for the departing star — who scored some 511 goals across four decades — with a guard of honour.
Ultimately, this was the final act of a glittering career that saw him turn out for both Milan sides, Ajax, Juventus, Manchester United and Barcelona and win 13 league championships and be nominated for the Ballon d'Or on 11 occassions. His final spell at Milan, which was the second of his career, might not have come about, however, without Ibrahimovic's experience in the MLS following an unfortunate knee injury towards the backend of his first season at Old Trafford.
The 122-time international would complete his recovery from the injury and go on to score an incredible 53 times in just 59 appearances during his couple of years stateside, with the superstar crediting the league with helping him feel 'alive'. He also praised the league for the way its chiefs 'were working', before conceding that he felt he was 'too good for the whole competition'.
Speaking to ESPN's Gab & Juls Show back in April, the legendary Swedish forward revealed his gratitude for his experience with the LA Galaxy, who he played for between 2018 and 2019. He said: "I'm very thankful for MLS because they gave me the chance to feel alive. But the problem was I was still too alive. So I was too good for the whole competition. That is what I showed.
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He added: "I'm the best ever to play in MLS and that is not me having ego or trying to show off now. That is true. And when I was there, I enjoyed [it]. I had a good time. And I like the way they were working, the way they were doing the marketing stuff."
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was given a send-off at the San Siro after he announced his retirement with an emotional speech. (Sportinfoto/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)The mercurial attacker may have made a major impression on spectators during his time in the MLS but he had some issues in terms of his relationship with his teammates. According to former Liverpool defender Emiliano Insua, who joined the Galaxy back in 2020, Ibrahimovic was thought of as a "strange" character by his peers in the dressing room at the MLS club.
In a conversation with the Argentinian radio show Ataque Futbolero, he explained: "They say that he wasn’t a good team mate and that is why he left. As a player he was very good, but, as they told me, he was not a good colleague.
"Honestly, I don't know him as a person, but I do know that he has a strange personality. When I arrived, they told me things that are quite private, but it would not be right to speak of someone I don’t know and whom I have never been with."
The end of Ibrahimovich's stint opened the door to one final spell at Milan and an emotional farewell to the San Siro at the weekend as his career came to an end.
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