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Zlatan Ibrahimovic has slammed certain players who made the move to the Saudi Pro League, which he believes should be avoided by the best of the best
Enigmatic Swedish legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic has revealed his thoughts about players deciding to jettison Europe for the plentiful green of Saudi Arabia, noting that it is not a move that everyone should be willing to make.
Zlatan critical of Saudi Arabia move
Zlatan enjoyed a lengthy career in Europe and earned respect as a talented but controversial figure in football who was never afraid to speak his mind.
Even after retirement, Zlatan still remains his talkative self, and laid a number of nuggets in a recent interview with British journalist Piers Morgan on his special show, Piers Uncensored.
One highlight of the interview included his thoughts on the recent wave of players moving to Saudi Arabia to earn mega bucks, with the former Ajax, Inter, and Juventus star showing his disapproval of the move.
When asked what he thought about players who made the move to Saudi Arabia, Zlatan said, “I had an offer also from China. I had an offer also from Saudi, but the situation is, what do you want? What objectives do you have?
“I said before we started, like certain players need to finish their career on the big stage because that is the high end of your career.
'You have to be remembered for your talent, not for what you earned. Because if you were remembered in the opposite way, what are we training every day for, what we are being recognised for? [It] is our talent and that's what you want to be remembered for.”
Zlatan claims Saudi Arabia move not good enough for certain players
Zlatan further noted that while the move to Saudi Arabia is understandable for some players, for others, it should not be the case.
The big Swede added, “So I think certain players that reach a certain level, they have to stop at a certain stage, and that's the big stage.
“You cannot go in a lower stage and finish your career in a different way. But some players needed the situations where you can earn a lot of money because they didn't earn enough.”
The former PSG, Barcelona, and AC Milan striker also noted that his disapproval was not a question of morality, comparing the situation in the Saudi Pro League with a similar situation with the LIV Golf tournaments.
He told Piers Morgan, “No, absolutely not [it is not a question of morals]. You have the golf situation now. They came together and they made it one, so I am just sorry for the players that didn't go before because they didn't get the money that the [other] players got.
“Listen, wherever you play football, it's football. Football connects people. It's a dream we share, both of us.
“We do things for ourselves and our family. Who would judge you in five or ten years when you have a wealthy, healthy life and have a good life?
“I don't think anything is for free. You don't work for free. I don't work for free. I don't need money but I am very expensive, that's the difference.”
Zlatan announced his retirement at the end of the 2022/23 Serie A season while with AC Milan after suffering a number of injuries that had kept him out of contention from football for the better part of the last two years.
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