Barcelona’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic is undoubtedly one of the best strikers in the world.
But David Villa’s move to the Spanish champions has unsettled the Sweden forward, who has been linked with a host of clubs.
Ibrahimovic came to Barcelona at the back of a season when the club was able to win the treble before adding trophies to their cabinet in the following year, winning the quadruple in a memorable fashion.
Even worse for Ibrahimovic, he had to fill the shoes of Barcelona’s top scorer, Samuel Eto’o, who had scored 36 goals in 52 matches.
And to add pressure on Ibra, the deal was a swap-plus-cash deal with Barcelona paying a whopping 40m Euros to complete the deal.
Ibrahimovic has been widely-regarded as a flop after his first season at Nou Camp. The flop tag, the numbers say, are unjust.
The former Juventus forward has netted 21 times in 41 matches for Barcelona. In straight comparison to Didier Drogba’s debut season, in which the Ivorian scored 16 goals in 41 matches, Ibrahimovic’s record is not that bad after all.
It is a fact that a player’s first season at a club may be hindered by the personal, time-consuming process of settlement in the new city as well as adaptation to new lifestyle, coach, friends and teammates.
It is surprising – to say the least – that Pepe Guardiola has chosen to remain tight-lipped as he controversially tried to evade from the journalists’ questions over Ibra’s future.
Meanwhile Manchester City are a star-studded side following their dazzling summer spending spree. With Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli and Jo in their ranks, City’s strike force is in no need for strengthening.
Ibrahimovic should take the opportunity to play another season and cement himself in the Barcelona starting line-up. Such an acquisition would not suit the interests of the two parties.
But who knows, City can do anything with the amount of money they have. Still, next year, I can see Ibrahimovic becoming a more realistic option for the Eastlands’ club.
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