“Zlatan doesn’t do auditions,” quipped a 17 year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Arsene Wenger – or so the legend goes.
The enigmatic Sweden striker turned up in north London expecting to sign a contract with the Gunners back in 2000, but Le Prof insisted upon seeing how he fared in training first.
In typical Zlatan fashion, the PSG front man, who once claimed “A World Cup without me isn’t worth watching”, wasn’t best pleased, and soon opted to join Ajax instead.
He’s since gone on to emerge as one of the most successful forwards of his generation, winning a domestic league title during every nearly season of his senior career thus far – an incredible eleven – throughout affluent spells with the Dutch side, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan and PSG, whilst amassing 386 goals in 714 appearances throughout his club and international career.