Ibrahimovic didn’t get on with Messi, former Barcelona director says
Swapped for Samuel Eto’o and cash in the summer of 2009, the Swedish international moved to the Camp Nou, only to see The Cules be knocked out of the Champions League by Inter, Eto’o’s new team.
And yet, it feels unfair to label the Swede a failure there: he scored 21 goals in all competitions that season, including the winner in his first Clasico against Real Madrid in La Liga.
Though it is generally maintained that a spat with Pep Guardiola determined his fate (something Zlatan mentioned in his autobiography), it could well be that others wanted him out, too.
A former director with the Catalans claims, in fact, that Lionel Messi may have had a role.
“Why things didn’t work at Barcelona? Ibrahimovic was too static, Messi may have needed more space,” Marc Ingla told French TV Show Telefoot (via Le10Sport).
“Zlatan took up too much of it. There was a bit of friction, I think”.
Ingla is now a director at Lille in Ligue 1, but used to be marketing director at Barcelona.
@EdoDalmonte