Zlatan with the Arsenal Number 9 Shirt
ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC has just signed for 5 year contact with Barcelona, the spanish giants have paid £40m PLUS Samuel Eto’o for the striker. Ibrahimovic is now the worlds most expensive striker.
But did you know that he came VERY close to signing for Arsenal?
In 2001 Arsenal agreed a £3m fee with his club at the time Malmo FF, Personal terms with Ibrahimovic were also agreed and his was even given the number 9 shirt (photo above) It all basically a done deal…Until it all went wrong.
Zlatan was sure the deal was done and even posed for photos with the number 9 shirt, He called his friends at Malmo and told them how happy he was to be signing for a great club like Arsenal.
Arsene Wenger then told Zlatan the deal was NOT done and that he would have to play in a trial match before he signed him as he was not 100% of his talents. Zlatan was so angry about this he refused to play in the game and walked out of the Arsenal training ground. Zlatan felt insulted by Wengers late decision and refused to go back as he knew there were other clubs who wanted him.
Wenger decided NOT to sign him for £3m and he was then sent back to Malmo FF.
Wenger said: “I rate him highly. I wanted to buy him when he was a boy but it didn’t turn out that way.”
Malmo then sold Zlatan to Ajax and Arsenal signed Francis Jeffers for £8m, for almost 3x times as much as what they could have signed Zlatan.
So i wonder how wenger feels now knowing he picked Francis Jeffers over Zlatan Ibrahimovic and at more then double the price.
Ohh well…In wenger we trust, RIGHT!
Sinbad
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Why did i even bother reading this shit you fucking prepubescent yid. Just stop blogging please and do the world a favour.
What about all the clubs that didn’t even notice him back then? What about Barca paying 40m plus Eto and Helb. Why didn’t they just buy him for £1m in 2001. You plonker
fucking hell…shocking
the guys way ovverated anyway
Sure he is…. And look at how great jeffers is doing : )
Jeffers’ career (or lack of) bears no relation to the original point – Ibrahimovich is the most over-rated tart of all time. He has failed to score a single goal in the knock-out stages of the European Cup, with most of his goals in Italy’s seriously under-par Serie A coming against bottom half sides.
If we’d signed him in 2001 would you have rather had him playing than Henry, Bergkamp, Pires etc.?
Barca have made a chronic mistake; great coup for Mourinho.
All that money and he’s still not as good as Van Persie or Eduardo.
Keep trying mate, one day you’ll post a decent ‘article’
you have some of your facts wrong, Arsenal did not pull out of the deal, it was Zlatan as Wenger rightly would not guarentee a 17 year old to be first choice so Zlatan went to Ajax as they did
“He was here as a young man, but he chose to go to Ajax,” Wenger said yesterday at the club’s London Colney training headquarters. “I have always regretted not signing him.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2334401/Wenger-regrets-loss-of-erratic-Ibrahimovic.html
He picked Ajax as he felt insulted by Wenger
you are a fucking little shit stirring cunt who basically don’t know the real facts! Do you know the term ‘supporter’ means? Why don’t you fuck off and support some otehr team you little fucking prick.
‘The Truth Hurts’
Its the same the other way round; Wenger signed (what turned out to be) great players for peanuts!
Wenger wins by a country mile…
What like Reyes?
no like toure, vieira, petit, anelka
Alberto Mendez and Inamoto?
Stepanovos
Tavaladis
Malz
Diawara
Whats your point every manager has signed flops, name one who hasn’t?
What are you trying to prove with this article?
Fucking sad really – and get your facts right before spreading negative shit over the web you retard – there are plenty of red-tops that will do that regardless.
Who would garantee a 17 yr old first team football?
Stop writing if your only going to wrote bullshit.
If Fucks real fans off.
I’m trying to prove that Wenger is not the god that some people think.
And all this crap about how he (Zlatan) wanted first team football is just bollocks, its all propaganda from the “in wenger we trust crew”
They well also try and tell you that Wenger can turn blood into redwine and how wenger can walk on water.
The sad fact is that Wenger is killing the club with his lack of spending. But the “in wenger we trust crew” will try n tell us that we have NO money.
The in wenger we trust crew will also tell you that if it was not for Wenger we would not be in our new stadium as he belt it with his own hands, They will also tell you that if it was not for wenger Arsenal would be in the same boat as leeds.
They dont tell you about things like Zlatan and we wont say anything about Arshavin being dropped for the FA Cup Semi final or the signing of Silvestre and allowing Diarra,Flamini and Gilberto to leave without replacing them for 2 seasons.
Im here to tell the trust and to open peoples eyes to the fact that Wenger is making more n more mistakes every summer.
Zlatan is in the news today as he has just signed for Barca hench this post.
Wenger is one of the best managers in the world, no manager can build wat wenger has built, those young boys will shine nd wen they do i would luv 2 c ur posts then, i already knw ur not a real arsenal fan. yes we all knew arshavin was on the bench and wondered why but we could hve 1 tht match without him plus if u chk ur sources he was not fully fit u fuck. Gilberto was sold because he was getting to slow for the english league. Diarra is a loss but he wanted to go cuz he wasnt ready to w8 to start. wenger makes mistakes like a human being but in WENGER WE TRUST REAL TALK
I still think this is a vendetta against Wenger.
So we should sack a manager for making a mistake? You have dug up old news to use against Wenger, but for what? Im sure hes made other mistakes too!
Before, I would always have assumed that even the most staunch anti-Wenger fans would never have doubted his amazing ability in the transfer market. For every one that got away, there are two that didnt.
You have a point to make, but dont do it in a childish way like this. Your credibility will be completely lost if you continue in this vein; expecting actual perfection just seems ludicrous.
Are you that Anti Wenger? I just don’t understand looking at your own comments on your own piss shit article…..?
Fuck off and support Spurs dip shit and stop posting shit.
When Wenger leaves with you go with him?
you little wanker
Zlatan is a fantastic footballer, amazing skills…top 3 in the world! Its boring that many of the premier League followers dont rate him, because they dont know him….. PL is my league but I always watch Zlatan matches, he is a total extra factor !! Would be perfect for Arsenal I can se Arshavin – Fabregas – Zlatan – Van Persie – Theo Have alot of fun together
God, why do I read this shit?
But you’ve got what you wanted, hits and comments. Well done you cunt.
I don’t even think it’s Zlatan on the picture…just one of many look-a-likes.
I AGREE IT DOESNT LOOK LIKE HIM
Sinbad,
Why don’t you confess to everyone. What is your issue with the greatest manager that has ever managed our club.
If you are a ‘supporter’ why is all you write so negative? Do you think you can respond to this and tell us fans what our manager is good at? Do you think you can do it?
Go on, give it a go and see how you feel.
Wenger is ONLY good at ONE thing.
Making money for the board
ach come on, surely you can’t believe that! that’s beyond stupid. how many times do i have to write on this wall, profits from player transfers do not go to the board, They don’t take dividends!!!!
That just proves that you know nothing about my club and you should be writing about the club you actually support.
Strange how 99% of posters think you are talking rubbish. I wonder why that is.
AV its coz they all buy into that dream that Wenger will lead us into the promise land with his vision and super kids.
ARSENAL ACTION IT PROVES U KNW SHIT ABT FOOTBALL FUCKING HELL
Another poignant sensible article from the country’s most intelligent & well informed blogger 🙂
Fat Mike i agree wit u, arsenalaction ur not a supporter a twat tht shud fuck off. why u h8in zlatan is so over rated he played shit against Man u nd out strikers easily eclipse him so pls support ur own team nd dnt look 4 faults u bellend
Wenger is a cunt
UR A BIG FOOL IF UR NOT A SUPPORTER FUCK OF UR THE CUNT BLOODY BELLEND
Are u lot avin a laugh!? Does that really look like Ibrahimovic 2 U?! Sinbad’s takin the piss. I know that foto was supposedly taken in 01′ but that ain’t no Ibrahimovic 2 me just some budget lookalike – if that!
As much as he’s a gr8 manager, one thing I h8 about Wenger(amongst a growin list) is how he alwayz lays claim to nearly signin’ so many superstar footballers once they’ve hit the big time. He did it with Ronaldinho, Drogba, Torres, Ronaldo, Cech, etc and now Ibra…so why didn’t u buy them then? He’ll always tell us there was some kind of issue, blah, blah, blah…I don’t need to hear it. I think the guy is amazing 4 what he has done for the gunners in his first 8 years but his increasing use of kryptic english in interviews(especially when things don’t go right – I’m like er, what did that mean???), bullshit spin, empty promises and “I nearly signed them 8 years ago” spiel r startin 2 wear mighty thin. Just be honest with the back bone of this club – THE FANS – so we can get our expectations in perspective 4FS!
dnt have much 2 say,but THAAAT WAS A FREE KICK N A HALF!!wt a screaaaamer!!would have loved the Ronaldinho & CR deal more back then tho!!well its all inda past now we just have 2 look 4rward init.
Brilliant post. Let’s face it, all our problems have clearly come from pre 2001 sice when we have won 2 doubles and gone unbeaten for an entire season.
Even if the joker in the picture was the said, One Trick Pony, he can hardly have been guarenteed to make the same progress with us as he was with the relevant Italian clubs that he has masqueraded for since said picture was taken. Personally speaking, as someone who has held a season ticket since 1985, I remember Ibrahimovic playing against us for Juve and being abysmal. Shut out of the game by a combination of Senderos and Eboue. So what is to be made of that? Sign them both up on extended contracts..? No. Didn’t think so.
Try to rememer where Arsenal were before Wenger arrived if you want to imagine the future.
Mugs.
dont you get tired of insults? this fool is not half as good as Eto but Barca is going to find out in the quarter finals of the champions league
I just laugh at them.
People cant come back with a debate and they cant so they just slag me off and call me names. shows how weak they are
this is stupid!!!!!! what u want us to hate wenger??? why are u so negative??? There was no reason to bring this up.
Zlatan is in the news today is he not?
yes he is, but for other reasons not for the one you posted!! any ways who cares if he dint sing for us because of wenger, that was like 8 years ago!! forget aobut it!!!!!! it was hes own fault, he should have just gone to the trial.
there was no reason to post something negative about wenger for no reason!!!
horroble deal for barca!! i rate eto much much higher the zlatan!!
Why didn’t we sign Ronaldo when he was a sperm. He would have cost 20 cents then. Damn we could have saved 79999999.8 pounds.
ahhahahahahahahahahahahahaha
thanks mate, i needed a good laugh
Are you saying you’re better manager than arsene? you’d sign zlatan for 3m back in 2001 knowing he’d be one of the best today. Well done i say. Why are you still blogging then? Get your ass into the real world and start the hardwork to get a manager license and replace arsene one day….
oh wait, you’re only good at blogging
whilst agreeing with you that wenger makes mistakes(like the semi with chelsea, by dropping the Arsh!, was for the reason he wanted the team he put out to get confidence without him for game against utd in CL) and the easy way he lets players go etc etc… but who doesn’t make mistakes! one thing for sure THE BIGGEST TEAM IN THE WORLD REAL MADRID would walk on broken glass to get wenger as there manager! i know it, you know it , the whole world who follows football and has a brain knows it!! so shut the f**k up and wait until wengers contract runs out and if he’s not succesful with his project he will do the honourable thing and leave.. then saps like you will be moaning with his replacement and i will be remembering the good years and memories he has left me with whilst following THE ARSENAL over the last 30 years,1978..onwards.boy was there some bad memories before wenger! what you have to understand is that form is temporay but class is permanent!so my advice is if you are not happy with wat is going do something about it! vote with your feet or dont follow arsenal until wengers gone! not slag him off on every occasion! whilst i am not happy with most of wengers tactics , subs, i wouldnt come here and slag him off!(i only mentioned the previous line about tactics etc..)as an example not to slag him off.f&cks sake the season aint even started yet! i think you are any one of the brain washed massive who lives of sky, talk shit radio and the newspapers! believing all the crap that comes from them! haha
The south will rise again…
Thats it…..im not reading this SPUDSACTION IN THE ASS blog…what a waste of my fucking time.
BTW where did you get your info? name your source ASSHOLE!!!!
And oh yeah, where did you get that picture?….that looks like FAT ROBBIE WILLIAMS or is it you you fat cunt.
REAL ARSENAL FANS SHOULD BOYCOTT THIS STUPID BLOG. IVE GIVEN THIS FAT TWAT TOO MANY CHANCES, SHE’S NOT WORTH IT.
lol wenger isn’t that good because there was a good player he didn’t sign on the cheap ages ago….. right.
i guess barca are even worse then for paying LUDICROUS money for him when they could have had him for 3 mil.
how many players in the invincibles lineup were bought as established world class players at huge costs? campbell was world class-free. toure was a cheap unknown cm who got converted to a great defender at that time, lauren was a cheap, unknown attacking midfielder converted to right back, cole was a youth academy player. pires wasn’t overly expensive and joined as a player who wasn’t entirely on top of the world before, viera wasn’t very expensive (nuff said), gilberto was cheap, ljungberg was cheap and unknown until he signed. henry wasn’t that cheap, but he went from a decent winger to one of the greatest ever players up front and bergkamp wasn’t bought by wenger so doesn’t count. oh and lehmann was cheap and not overly well known.
grow up mate. wenger has made lots of mistakes, but the man has done so much for arsenal that your disregard is insulting to the club itself. who could replace him? unless you want arsenal to piss stupid money away on these over-rated players and get into the same money trouble as utd and chelsea then there are no other managers who are up to the task of doing a good job.
and your logic is shit, look at the players you listed as flops, there weren’t even that many and only a couple of those were expoensive. we’ve never blown money like man u have on veron, chelsea with shevchenko etc. or are you going to say that by the SAME logic ferguson and mourinho are not that good too?
fucking moron, jesus christ.
lol As much as i hate saying it, he’s right! i remember all those years ago when this story 1st happened and it’s true! it’s not a matter of not having all the facts….those were the facts! plain and simple.
but sometimes you win some sometimes you don’t. we missed zlatan, we missed ronaldo, but we snared cesc (can you imagine a team with all three lol) but you shouldn’t be so harsh on him Sinbad it at least shows he’s still probably the hottest talent spotter out there. and i still believe that, weather he still has the ability to fully nurture them with kids playing against kids….i don’t know. i understand if you’ve lost faith in him now unlike a lot of akb’s out there who are completely blind to the fact that somethings wrong with my beloved arsenal. but please don’t start to find anything and everything to throw at him it’s not fair. talent spotting is a lottery, so find something a little more constructive to critisize him with!
Being spurned by a great club can spur a player on to greatness, and equally throwing 20 year olds the keys to the club can trigger a certain complacency. It’s impossible to make every call correctly but certainly this one didn’t turn out too well for us.
Sorry… is this a spuds blog…………… AGAIN?!!!
Get a life, sinbad!
In 2001 Wenger didn’t sign Zlatan but Arsenal went on to win the double (01-02 – for the second (third in total) time under Le Prof).
Were you complaining than Mr. Sinbad????
I’d appreciate an answer if you don’t mind please…
I don’t hate wenger he’s done great for us,not lately but a few years ago was magic.But i’m really only interested in the present and the future and both look kinda gloomy,i’d love to see a miracle next season though.Sadly,and this occured to me last season after chelsea humiliated us that we have won our last trophy under Arsene it was like the end of an era.But who’s to know if he can sign the 3 (now that kolo is gone) world class players we need then there may be a glimmer !
hahhaah love this blog your right AW is holding arsenal back……. with his 70m in the bank he refuses to buy honestly any other manager would win with his budget also have an undefeated season in the epl……… (see the sarcasm) also other managers would have signed promising youth players like cesc vela clichy anelka viera petit henry
This is really some bottom of the barrel stuff. Managers miss out on good players all the time, due to the idiosyncrasies of the contract negotiation process which covers an umbrella of myriad potential reasons for not signing a player.
You say you’re trying to prove that Wenger is not the god that some people think he is, but who are you to say that we would have been better and not worse off with Ibrahimovic in our team? You can’t because it’s impossible to say so with any certainty. That’s to say nothing of the bulk of our strike force at the time which was really rather good. It’s just insulting how easy you think it is, using the benefit of hindsight, to be a football manager. I really don’t think it is.
More fool me for reading it, and I did know the story but I presumed this would be an exercise in base shit-stirring and, well, I was right. It’s a bit pathetic though.
yeh Etoo over ibra anyyyy day,i had biiig hopez that wenger may just suprise us and get him with the ADE money but thats just another dream of the past,lets fukn start buying players now am fed up with this shiiiit 4 years now,bring in a any quality/TOUGH&BIG players,and nt fukn midgnts like most of our players,i mean i can understand why he dosnt wanna buy players with his youth policy,but what about buying BIG&TOUGH youth???i mean guyz that can handle the EPL toughness,jus dnt get him anymore as we had a good mixture in allll this time he been here,but lately its all about midgnts,never heard of a team with soo many soft and small in size of players alll at the same time,has anyyy1 did????that’s what’s really annoyn coz we ill be bullyd by tough teams over and over and over again,until we have few of them tough players we are nothing anymore 😦
If satan move to arsenal at that time, maybe he wont be the player he is now.
Why dun also add about wenger give up signing c.ronaldo cuz mu bid higher ?
But i tell u one things, arsenal will be another aston villa without wenger, he is such a big influence, ppl wanna play for him.
And yes every ppl make mistake, he should play AA in semi final against chelsea.
The Italian league is weird. Strikers who have done well in Italy struggle in other leagues. Shevchenko, Luca Toni to name a few. They were outstanding in the Italian league but turned out to be no brainers elsewhere. Only time will tell if Ibrahimovic can match Eto’s quality.
AA, you have a good point about AW leading arsenal from contenders for the league to also-rans. It is mind boggling how this guy continue to make mistakes every season, and some bone head fans dont even do as much as questions the future of the club they profess to love so much. I respect the work AW has done at arsenal pre 2004, after then, he has been more of a joke in his choice of players and stubbornnes on signing quality players. I will never forget last season’s FA cup semi final decision, which to me shows AW does not give a sugar about arsenal fans, what he does, is think about his legacy.
Wenger is a great manager and has done so many good things here at Arsenal. But still its only fair to accept he has made quite a few mistakes which has caused Arsenal not doing better and we need to accept he is human too and stop saying whatever he does is correct.
Sinbad – If you think Wenger has done such a poor job over the last decade (the most successful Arsenal Manager ever) who should replace him?
You say that – The sad fact is that Wenger is killing the club with his lack of spending…. so how do you suggest the Board raises the funds you believe we so desperatly need? with the option of a Russian Billionaire (who has spent time inside for Rape, Murder etc. although this has been overturned…) not being available…
Finally I would like to ask how long you’ve been following Arsenal? as the comments and your attitude must have been alot worse under Graham, Howe, etc.
You ask for a debate now you opinions are being asked….
Absolute nonsense he came over refused to play in a trial game and rejected us for Ajax!!!!!!!!!!!! He was given the no. 9 jersey with his name on as a present the no. 9 was already taken at that time so it wasnt a squad number for him. Get your facts straight!!!!!!!!!!
Show some proof, ANY, that you were party to the ongoings between Ibrahimovic and Arsenal. And you know what you’re talking about. Again, any will do.
Gone quiet have we…. ?
ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC is a diving cheat.
Yeah becuase 2001/2002 was such a shit season for us wasn’t it. If only we’d signed the over-rated arrogant prick….how different things might have been…
..Oh hang on, league and cup double..oh yeah that was right!
Yet another negative, pointless, uneducated, shit post from yourself. Well done.
metalhead, i think the blogger is out gettin pissed celebrating his REAL club spunking money on crouch! so is not able to offer any answers to your questions!
sorry i meant to say lee not metalhead,
This is bullshit, he came to an arsenal match with a few friends for a champ.lge game and was invited in after he and friends got a shirt from the club with their name on it.
So stop shit stirring CUNT
If we buy him for £3m back then……. I’m sure Wenger already sold him last year for £40m+… hahaha
LOL
Ibrahimovic is most expensive striker as ur said,yes i want to know why he is the most pay,while out there many strke better him,why £40m ?does it mean that pound has reduce it’s valves to extent that he is sold for £40m?
I seriously cant believe this guy is an Arsenal fan, doubtless that you should have some reservations and criticise Arsene fairly. But he is a fantastic manager who knows things have got to change, and they will, its in the general nature of things. So perhaps you should go and support spurs as you will soon find that you have more material to right insepid little articles like this!!