PLANET DT: The trouble with Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Champions League final, en route to Sigh. Remember Barcelona's Cameroonian forward Samuel Eto'o? He's the guy who scored Barca's first goal in this year's UEFA Champions League final, with Barca ending up winning 2-0 to be crowned football club champions of Europe. Many see him as Africa's best striker. Heck, I even got his name printed at the back of my old Barcelona away jersey! Well, sadly Eto'o is at Barcelona no more. The club decided to sell him to Italian side Inter Milan, & they signed Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Inter Milan as replacement for Eto'o as part of the transaction. It's effectively a "swap" deal. But Barcelona parted with Eto'o AND €46 million to get Ibrahimovic. Inter didn't pay anything to get Eto'o; they got all that cash plus a better forward than Ibrahimovic.

It makes me ask: why why why?? Why did Barcelona decide to sign Ibrahimovic?? Don't get me wrong, Ibrahimovic is very talented & his ability is unquestionable - his ball control & first touch is superb. But I wouldn't have signed him, for a number of reasons.

Firstly, Ibrahimovic looks like Ian Thorpe - same long nose, & same facial features. That's one reason not to have signed him.

Secondly, I don't think Ibrahimovic is suited to Barcelona's style of play. Barcelona plays the short-passing game, the sort of system in which nimble & agile footballers with superb footballing technique & intelligence would excel. For all his footballing ability, Ibrahimovic is not notable for being nimble & agile. One of his strength is his ability to hold the ball & lay it off to team-mates. Some might argue that this means Ibrahimovic can bring something different to Barcelona's game plan. Possibly, but I'm not convinced Barca really needs what he can offer & not convinced that he can blend in. Barcelona are effectively changing a winning formula by bringing in Ibrahimovic - the concern is that the whole squad may have to change just to accommodate the 1 player. If they were to get a forward, they should have signed someone more suited to Barcelona's system than Ibrahimovic.

Thirdly, Ibrahimovic is known for disappearing in big games. He did not shine for Sweden at the 2006 World Cup. And where was he when Inter Milan lost to Manchester United in last season's Champions League round of 16? The answer: nowhere to be seen. To put it another way, Ibrahimovic disappeared against the same Manchester United team that went on to be beaten by Barcelona in the final, a final during which Eto'o took just 10 minutes to score against United.

So yeah, I'm not happy with Barcelona signing Ibrahimovic. I don't know if he can be a success at the club. I'll be more than happy for him to prove me & other Barca fans wrong, though.