Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimović (born October 3, 1981 in Malmö) is a Swedish international striker currently playing for Juventus in Italian Serie A. Son of Bosnian immigrants, father Sefik (who is a Bosniak) and mother Jurka (who is a Croat), he started playing football at the age of 10. He first started professional soccer with the Swedish club Malmö FF in the 1999-2000 season. During his stay at the club, Arsène Wenger tried to persuade him to join Arsenal but Malmö did not allow a transfer to occur. Other than Wenger, Leo Beenhakker was also interested in Ibrahimović after observing the striker practicing in Spain. Beenhakker went back to Amsterdam and on March 22, 2001, a deal between Ajax and Malmö regarding Ibrahimović's transfer to Amsterdam was announced and in July of the same year, he joined Ajax for €7.8 million. Under manager Co Adriaanse, Ibrahimović did not get much exposure. His fortune started to change with the arrival of Ronald Koeman. Since Koeman's arrival, Ibrahimovic has consistently been chosen in Ajax's starting lineup. Ibrahimović was included in the Swedish national team that competed in the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan and has been a regular face in the national team since then. He also played in Euro 2004. On August 31, 2004, the final day of the summer transfer window, Ibrahimović moved from Ajax to Juventus for a €16 million transfer fee.
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