Zlatan Ibrahimovic probably didn’t say he’ll be the “god of Manchester” (yet)

It’s very easy to make up believable Zlatan Ibrahimovic quotes. The ghostwriter of his book did it. I do it. And media outlets desperate for pageviews are all too eager to do little or no investigation into their veracity.

This seems to be the case with a quote attributed to Zlatan in response to something Eric Cantona said about him.

“There can only be one king in Manchester,” said Cantona, who earned the nickname in his five seasons with Man United. “You can be the prince if you want to. And the number 7 is yours if you are interested. That is my welcome gift to you.”

According to reports in just about every major outlet, Zlatan has responded by saying, “I admire Cantona and I heard what he said. But I won’t be King of Manchester. I will be God of Manchester.”

That certainly sounds like something Zlatan would say. After all, he summed up his time with PSG by saying “I cam like a king, left like a legend.” It also wouldn’t be the first time he’s referred to himself as a god.

But the quote is being attributed to Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet, which in turn attributes it to a Spanish language quote round-up — a collection of quotes from other sources — from FIFA.com. And though the quote originally was included in that report, it has since disappeared. So it seems he didn’t actually say it.

At least not yet.

5 comments

  1. Zlatan Ibrahimovic says:

    I admire Cantona and I heard what he said. But I won’t be King of Manchester. I will be God of Manchester.

    There, I said it. Now bow down before me.

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