When it became clear that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the new partner in Hammarby, many raised his eyebrows in Malmö, where the 38-year-old played football for much of his life.
When he was given the opportunity to step into Hammarby, he did not understand how the Malmö fans would react.
- I mostly wanted to give back to Swedish football and so this opportunity came up and then I thought it was a canon idea, something else I did not think about. This was a chance to contribute in some other way, Zlatan Ibrahimovic tells Dplay.
The 38-year-old does not think the criticism is justified.
"I know what I've contributed"- I have played in MFF even though I was not welcome, even though they blew me on my first contract. Still, I chose to help out at the club, Zlatan says, and continues:
- I have given them 100 million plus and then it is not difficult to build a team. But there I feel that I have been too kind, too kind.
In October 2019, Zlatan's statue was unveiled in Malmö but on several occasions the statue was vandalized and now it has been moved.
- I think it's a shame. They want attention and the media writes about it. It is at kindergarten level, we are bigger than that. The statue was what it was, but that doesn't mean that my story will be torn down, it will remain forever.
He says he is not angry about the statue being vandalized and thinks that there are more important things in the world right now.
- Done done, it's less important to me now. Other things are much more important. Today we have talked about corona, about health. This statue has no meaning in it, and I know what I have contributed.