Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic hit out at Kylian Mbappe’s decision to stay with Paris Saint-Germain and highly praised Manchester City star Erling Haaland.
The 23-year-old Mbappe signed a new three-year deal with PSG in May of this year and has started the season in fine fashion in the French capital, scoring 18 goals in 18 appearances across Ligue 1 and the Champions League. Haaland has also started the season on fire, hitting the ground running with Manchester City and scoring 22 goals in 16 games.
Speaking to Canal+, Ibrahimovic first discussed if Mbappe did the right thing by staying with PSG.
“For who, for himself? No. For PSG? Yes. He made the right choice for PSG, not for himself, because he put himself in the position where he is bigger than the club, and the club gave him the keys to everything.
“You are never bigger than your club, but when a child becomes strong he can easily produce income, so his parents become lawyers, agents, coaches. That’s the problem, and when that happens you lose control of who you are and your identity.
“With this new generation the parents think they have become stars, they even talk in the newspapers, but who do they think they are.”
He commented on Olivier Giroud’s World Cup hopes with France.
“Giroud should be called up for the national team because he is a winner and a serious person. He is not someone who scores 40 goals a year, but he offers the team something that few people know how to give, he plays for everyone.”
The Swedish veteran highlighted his long-term belief that Karim Benzema should’ve been in the France squad over the last few years.
“Now that Benzema has won the Ballon d’Or, what are the journalists saying? Because going back, during the World Cup in Russia, I said that Benzema deserved to be in the national team, but I was attacked by French journalists.
“What are they saying now? They kiss Benzema’s arse. I’m not afraid to say this, because when in the beIn Sports studios, during the World Cup, they asked me about Karim and I said he deserved to be in Russia, they attacked me because France had won the World Cup.
“Now that he has won the Ballon d’Or, what are the French media saying?”
The Milan forward gave his thoughts on Manchester City star Haaland.
“I like Haaland very much, he’s a very intelligent player, he doesn’t do things that aren’t within his reach, he doesn’t drop deep to play the ball, he waits in front of the goal and scores. He reminds me of players like Inzaghi, Trezeguet and Vieri. He is a sort of ‘new version’ of all three.”
Finally, Ibrahimovic commented on if Haaland can keep improving under Pep Guardiola.
“It depends on Guardiola’s ego, whether he lets him become bigger than he is or not.”