Former Barcelona President Joan Laporta revealed how Samuel Eto'o ‘forced' them to sign Zlatan Ibrahimovic in an exchange deal.
“When the club won the Treble in 2009, the technical staff wanted a few ‘locker room modifications' to help the team ethic,” Laporta told Spanish newspaper As.
“This is how we came to swap Eto'o and Ibrahimovic, a move that at the time was wanted by Pep Guardiola.
Former Barcelona President Joan Laporta revealed how Samuel Eto'o ‘forced' them to sign Zlatan Ibrahimovic in an exchange deal.
“When the club won the Treble in 2009, the technical staff wanted a few ‘locker room modifications' to help the team ethic,” Laporta told Spanish newspaper As.
“This is how we came to swap Eto'o and Ibrahimovic, a move that at the time was wanted by Pep Guardiola.
“Aside from the Swede, the other two options were Diego Forlan and David Villa. However, Eto'o would not go to Real Madrid, as he preferred Inter.
“Valencia were asking too much for Villa, while Atletico Madrid had no intention of selling Forlan.
“There was the problem that Eto'o would absolutely not accept a transfer to Valencia or Atletico Madrid. In fact, the only club he was happy with was Inter.
“There was no other alternative to satisfy the Coach and his technical staff.”
It proved an unsuccessful deal, as Ibrahimovic had a notoriously fractious rapport with Guardiola and they reportedly didn't even speak for the last few months at the Nou Camp.