ZLATAN MISSES OUT

Chelsea manager José Mourinho will be delighted with the news that PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will not be available for the French outfit when they take on Chelsea in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final at Stamford Bridge. Ibrahimovic is regarded as one of the best strikers in the world and Mourinho will know everything about the quality possessed by the Swedish international from his time at Inter Milan. Mourinho worked with Ibrahimovic for one year before the forward was sold to Barcelona in a deal estimated to be around £ 60 million.

Ibrahimovic is right now playing for Paris St Germain and he has helped them already to take them to the brink of the second league title in a row. He also led them to the Champions League quarter-final stage last season when they were ultimately knockout by Barcelona on away goals. He is determined to take them one step beyond and even reached the final. However, he will have to cheer on his teammates from the sidelines after a hamstring injury suffered in the first leg has proven to be serious.

He had to be substituted midway into the second-half and he will likely to miss around four weeks of action according to the club.

“We are waiting for the results of his tests. But I think he will be absent for a minimum of four weeks. He will not be playing in the return match against Chelsea, it’s impossible,” said Paris Saint-Germain owner, Nasser Al-Khelaifi. Khelaifi has also said that manager Laurent Blanc is likely to be offered a new contract after impressing in the role this season. “I have a great respect for Ancelotti who is a great coach but Laurent Blanc has done a lot to change the style and the quality of play,” said Khelaifi.

ZLATAN HEADING TO ITALY?

Paris St Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been linked with a return to Italian football with the likes of Inter Milan and Juventus interested in his services. The 31-year-old Swedish international has established himself as one of the best strikers in the world over the last decade. His quality has seen him play for the likes of Barcelona, AC Milan, Ajax, and Juventus during an illustrious career. He recently helped PSG win their first league title for 19 years by scoring 30 goals last season. However, the arrival of Edinson Cavani for £ 55 million has sparked rumours that Ibrahimovic may be set for an exit from the club.

The player, though, has rejected such speculation by saying that he will be remaining as the PSG player beyond this transfer window. He also revealed that the club are currently set to hold talks with him over the possibility of offering him a pay rise despite the 31-year-old being one of the best paid players in the world. Ibrahimovic has not seen the arrival of Cavani as a threat to his first-team spot. Instead, he has said that he would welcome the Uruguay striker, who would add a lot of quality to the team.

“My future? I am under contract at PSG. There should be no reason for my situation to change in the summer. We will talk details, and I am very confident I know what will happen. As a new player he has to discover the team, the city and the fans. It will be a good reinforcement,” said the 31-year-old. Ibrahimovic has also been linked with a move to the Premier league for a long time. If he does move, then it would make the 31-year-old as one of the few to have played in the major leagues of Spain, Italy, France, and England.

ZLATAN MUST STAY

Paris St Germain defender Thiago Silva has said that Zlatan Ibrahimovic should reject any advances from Premier league outfit in Manchester City in the summer. The Swedish striker has long been a target for City manager Roberto Mancini. They tried to get him while he was at Inter Milan and failed to do so. They once again tried before he moved to PSG, but were unable to do so once again. However, Mancini is not reluctant to miss out on the Swedish striker, who is regarded as one of the best in the world. They are expected to make an offer in the summer as well.

However, Silva has said that Ibrahimovic should consider staying at PSG after helping them to almost win the league title this season. PSG are only a couple of points away from sealing their first league title in France, while they also made it into the quarter-finals of the Champions League – only to be defeated by Barcelona – this season. Silva and Ibrahimovic arrived at PSG at the same time. Ibrahimovic has scored 36 goals in just 43 matches for PSG this season. He is currently the top scorer in the French league. Ibrahimovic is the main target for Mancini in hopes of reclaiming the title from United.

“I hope Zlatan will stay at PSG. He can help the team and the club grow. I really want him to stay put. I have not yet had the opportunity to talk to him about whether he has already made a decision on his future. He’s a normal guy who always wants to win. He gets angry when things don’t go well. Sometimes this is a good thing and sometimes it isn’t. I see him as a positive guy, though, who gives strength to the team,” said Silva.

ZLATAN IS ONE OF BEST

The French club Paris St Germain signed the Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the summer for around £ 20 million. He has been one of the best buys for the club in recent years, as he has been able to help them challenge for a position at the top of the table. The striker has already scored 18 goals in all competitions for the club, while he recently was involved in an even more extravagant display for the national team in the match against England. The 31-year-old has stated that he is extremely happy to be at PSG creating a new history for the club.

Backed by the Qatari owners, the club has been spending big on several players over the last couple of transfer windows. The presence of the former Chelsea and AC Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti has helped them attract talent as big as Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Despite being the only club for the French capital Paris, they have been unable to take the league title yet. Ibrahimovic believes that the club are in a major period of transition and they will be successful in a short while. Even though the project began more than a year ago and he has been at the club for only six months, Ibrahimovic has already seen major progress made by the club on and off the field.

“Paris is a club in major transition. For me, everything has been positive but in the end everything depends on the results. If we win, everything will be better. We have some fantastic players but this project only began a year-and-a-half ago and I have only been here six months but I have seen things advance very, very quickly. I knew when I came here, it would be a big thing for the media because to come to Paris was not necessarily expected for a player at the peak of his career,” said Ibrahimovic.

HAMREN HAILS ZLATAN

The Swedish national team manager Eirik Hamren has hailed the goal scored by the PSG forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic by saying that it was an impossible goal. The 30-year-old Swedish striker was at his imperious best in the recent match against England, as Sweden managed to win the match 4-2. He has always been criticised by the English media for not performing well at the big stages, but he has certainly put an end to all the talk with his one goal. The striker had scored in the three previous goals in a match, but he will forever be remembered for his fourth and final goal.

The England goalkeeper Joe Hart appeared to punch the ball out to relative safety before trying to return to his goal. However, Zlatan Ibrahimovic credit score from an impossible angle almost 30 yards out with an overhead kick. Incredibly, the goal was scored by the 30-year-old forward to the amazement of every football fan around the world. It has now been claimed as one of the best goals in the history of the game, while the Swedish manager Hamren has said that it is almost impossible for another player to replicate the goal again. The England midfielder Steven Gerrard also praised the goal by saying that it was the best he has ever seen.

“Sometimes, you think you are looking at a video game where you can do all these incredible things. The fourth goal is not possible,” said the Sweden manager. “When I saw the long ball I saw the goalkeeper come out. I was thinking should I go in the duel or should I wait for him to put it out? When he put it out I had it in my mind that I would try to score. It was a nice goal,” said Ibrahimovic.