The future of Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been the hottest topic around PSG’s headquarters these last few days. The Swede’s contract is up this summer, and speculation surrounding his future has been gathering pace for the last couple of months.
If you believe the player himself, then he is definitely staying in Paris beyond this season. He took part in PSG’s 1-0 friendly win over his former club Inter Milan in Doha on Wednesday, where he was booed by his former club’s supporters while he was leaving the field to be substituted. After the game the 34 year old striker said that ‘there was nothing on the table yet’ and that he has a beautiful relationship with PSG and has no intention of leaving the French club.
However, if you listen to the noises that his outspoken agent Mino Raiola has been making over the last couple of months you will definitely get the feeling that Zlatan’s entourage is leveraging their position, ahead of any negotiations which are going to take place before the summer transfer window. In his latest interview with Sky Sports, Raiola has claimed that his client will stay in PSG for the remainder of the season and that he won’t leave the club in January.
His next quotes, though, are sure to spark speculation because he basically left the door open for any of the Premier League’s top clubs to start wooing the Swedish international. In short, Raiola said that his client’s playing style and the passion he has for football are shared by Premier League clubs and supporters respectively. He claimed that by being a free agent, Zlatan can mule over all the offers he gets and then choose which he thinks is the best one. This was a loud and clear ‘come and get him plea’ issued towards whoever was willing to pay attention and listen.
And it’s difficult to see which Premier League club wouldn’t benefit from having Ibrahimovic in their ranks. Several weeks ago, while Mourinho was still at Chelsea, there were reports Zlatan’s agent could engineer a move for the Swede, a self-declared Mourinho disciple, to Stamford Bridge. But now that Mourinho is gone, the Blues interest seems to have waned. However, should Mourinho be reappointed at Old Trafford, we could expect for the rumor to be resurrected again, especially with United’s misfiring attacking options inability to find the back of the net.
Even if any of these two aren’t interested, there are always Arsenal and Man City, both sharing the need of a quality striker and having the resources to afford one. But buyer beware, even though Zlatan is a free agent and no transfer fee will be needed for his purchase, his astronomical wages are sure to be a heavy burden even for financially healthy clubs. And this is without mentioning the bonuses that he will be asking for. They will probably be as high as the mobile bonus offers found in Bonus Wire’s list of casino match bonuses in their online casinos.
If there are no buyers from England, however, there is always the option of joining, the so called retirement home for European stars, the MLS. Clubs in the MLS have the option to have a marquee player in their ranks, meaning that this signing is considered outside of the team’s salary cap and can be given higher wages than other players. This rule was first implemented for Zlatan’s old team mate, David Beckham, and is informally called the Beckham rule.
And rather symbolically, Beckham has joined the bandwagon as well, and invited Ibrahimovic, through the media of course, to join the MLS franchise that he has been building in Miami. However, since the team Beckham has founded will start competing in 2 or 3 years time at best, Ibrahimovic might still have to stay in one of Europe’s top leagues for now.
So whether Ibra stays in Paris or leaves for pastures greener in the summer, this whole thing has the words ‘transfer saga of 2016’ written all over it.