AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has defended his decision to reveal the truth about his unhappy spell at Barcelona in his autobiography.
The book, titled ‘I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic’, is set to be released on November 15, but Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet recently leaked excerpts from the book, which included the 30-year-old directing heavy criticism at the management of former coach Pep Guardiola.
However, Ibrahimovic has insisted that there is no ulterior motive to the sudden release of his story, believing it was necessary to clarify his version of events that took place in Catalunya two seasons ago.
“If anyone has anything else to say or they know something I don’t, then they are welcome to speak, but I’ve told you everything I know in this book,” said the striker.
The Sweden international joined Barcelona in a blaze of glory during the summer of 2009 from Inter, but he admitted that his experience contrasted from the one he had dreamed of, despite scoring 21 goals for the European champions.
“Sometimes it is better to be content with what you have to dream about, than to fulfill it, only to discover that it almost kills you,” he said.
In the autobiography, Ibrahimovic revealed that he completely lost control in the aftermath of Barcelona’s 4-1 away win over Villarreal in the 2009-10 campaign which followed their Champions League elimination by Inter only days before.
He told Guardiola that he was afraid of then-Inter coach Jose Mourinho and that the Barcelona coach could ‘go to hell’.
“I yelled to him: ‘You have no balls!’ And probably worse things than that. And I added: ‘You are sh***ing yourself about Mourinho! You can go to hell!’ I was completely mad. If I were Guardiola, I would have been frightened,” Ibrahimovic writes in the first chapter of his book.
The former Ajax star also took the time to reveal his true feelings for Barcelona trio Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi.
“The atmosphere in the dressing room was way too quiet for me. Messi, Iniesta and Xavi always obeyed without protesting. They were like schoolboys. I’m not like that and I couldn’t be myself,” he said.
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