Peter Fraser remains staggered by Zlatan Ibrahimovic's big-money move to Barcelona
Peter Fraser is left staggered by Zlatan's move to Barcelona
Not since Abba decided to say 'Hej da' (goodbye, if an online translator can be relied upon) have Swedes demanded so much publicity. Sven Goran Eriksson's decision to take over as Notts County's director of football may have left the world with a puzzled, bruised and fatigued brain, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic's transfer to Barcelona is almost as staggering.
The above conditions of Scandinavian-induced confusion are not totally dissimilar to the eye-itching symptoms of post-traumatic stress suffered by any unfortunate soul who has ventured round Ikea on a Bank Holiday. However, said furniture superstore also demonstrates those who herald from Sweden know a thing or two about money.
Anybody that can induce an unsuspecting shopper on the hunt for a reasonably-priced, flat-pack chest of drawers to instead end their trip with the purchase of a novelty-shaped mirror and a bag of 101 tealights after stopping for a hotdog halfway through is obviously skilled in balancing the books. If Ibrahimovic shares the financial knowledge of his countrymen, and now the obvious Sweden references have been dealt with, he must surely realise that something does not add up.
The striker has left Inter Milan in order to move to Camp Nou, while Samuel Eto'o and £40million have gone in the other direction. Barcelona will be delighted to have their man but they must also be feeling like the kid who knows they will be going hungry at lunchtime as their cash now lines the pockets of the school hardnut in order to avoid a knuckle sandwich.
Ibrahimovic, top scorer in Serie A last season, is a good player, but if reports had emerged shortly after Barcelona triumphed in May's UEFA Champions League final that he was worth Eto'o, La Liga's second-best marksman in 2008/09 and a goalscoring hero in the glittering victory over Manchester United in Rome, and a whopping, great wodge of cash, it would have been described as an exaggeration as generous as saying Wayne Rooney possesses the chiselled good looks of Zac Efron.
That the season-long loan of Alexander Hleb was also initially going to be involved only adds to a situation as baffling as why Premier League managers, who usually spend campaigns prowling touchlines in bespoke suits, decide it is acceptable to fill pre-season dugouts with comically tight shorts and bald-spot-concealing baseball caps (see Rafa Benitez and Gianfranco Zola) that look like they have come free with a Happy Meal. The climate may be a little warmer in destinations such as the Far East, but foreign bosses have spent too much time in England if the Brits-Abroad fashion sense is taking hold.
Back to the point. Sweden international Ibrahimovic often earns the world-class tag, however - like watching people go into a swine flu-obsessed panic when someone squeezes in a congested lift, or listening to those who laugh at gimme jokes at the cinema - he can frustrate. He oozes skill but can sometimes drift on the fringe of matches with an attitude that suggests disinterest, a desire to be elsewhere or that he feels he is destined for better things. The 'Harold Steptoe factor' can impact upon footballers.
Looking at Ibrahimovic's stats - 57 goals in 88 appearances for Inter - he is a skilled act and his game, based on tight control and technical ability, is likely to blossom in Spain and will form a formidable partnership with Lionel Messi. This is not in dispute. The bamboozling element in a transfer window that has delivered more gasping-for-air moments than an especially purple haze piece of work from David Lynch is what Barcelona have let go in exchange.
The 27-year-old seems to be one of those players whose reputation goes before him. On paper the Malmo-born attacker appears superb but when he has been watched if the ball is not played to feet or if facing an adaptable defence, he disappoints and is not a player that is likely to run beyond opponents as Eto'o does. He did not get a sniff over two legs when up against United's Rio Ferdinand in the last 16 of the Champions League.
It is risky to read too much into statistics. Serie A is far from the best division in Europe and Inter have barely been forced to break sweat when winning four championships in a row. A more interesting fact may be that the Giuseppe Meazza outfit failed to progress beyond the first knockout round of the European Cup after Ibrahimovic arrived from Juventus in 2006. Another telling sign is that Inter boss Jose Mourinho, and his habit for telling it like it is, announced that fans will not miss the attacker. Surely a player of such supposed calibre would demand adulation and heartbreak upon departure?
Have Barcelona therefore been too keen on the transfer? The Spanish career of Eto'o was deemed to have run its course by boss Pep Guardiola but the Cameroon international had been a revelation over the previous campaign as his rejuvenated form proved a major factor in helping the Catalan giants to their unprecedented La Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey Treble.
It is difficult to believe that a player who has proved his class in Spain, a significantly superior league to Serie A, and has also won two Champions League titles in his five years with Barcelona is such an inferior individual to Ibrahimovic to warrant a huge financial deficit. A bust-up with Guardiola is another explanation for the move but the Catalan chief will know he has taken a gamble in letting Eto'o leave as he faces immense pressure to meet the success of his debut campaign and his team is likely to need to adapt to a new style.
The livewire pace, energy and skill of 28-year-old Eto'o - a long-term target of Mourinho from his days at Chelsea - is expected to be a smash hit in the occasionally sleepy Serie A.
People who remember a teenage Ibrahimovic bursting onto the scene almost eight years ago to the day to help destroy Liverpool in a 3-1 win for Ajax in the pre-season Amsterdam Tournament on 28th July 2001 will know that he has ability, but publicity seems to have got a little carried away. He will be a success in Spain, but Inter have got the best of the transfer.
