Swedish legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic says the quality of football in the English Premier League is overrated.
Ibrahimovic netted 17 goals in 28 games during his first season at Manchester United in 2016 and the striker, now at LA Galaxy in the United States’ Major League Soccer, imagines what would have happened had he arrived in Manchester 10 years earlier.
Ibrahimovic played four seasons in the Netherlands’ Eredivisie, seven seasons in Italy’s Serie A, four seasons in France’s Ligue 1 and a year in Spain’s LaLiga, winning 12 domestic titles in total.
“It was exactly like I thought it was,” the 116-cap Sweden international, Ibrahimovic told The Mirror.
“It was very hyped, it was very intense, the pace was very high, it was good but the quality is a bit overrated.”
“Overrated from a technical point of view. But it is high pace and intense and if you cannot handle those two things, you cannot survive.
“I don’t regret not having longer stay in the Premier League. I think everything that happens was meant to happen.
“The only thing is imagine if I came ten years before I came.”It would be a different story. But I am more sorry for the fans for not coming earlier because they would have seen a different animal.”
Ibrahimovic reveals he could have made the move to England in 2011 after falling out of favour at Barcelona, but decided to return to Italy with AC Milan rather than joining Manchester City.
“I had the chance to go to City when I was at Barcelona but after that moment in Barcelona, I needed to find happiness,” Ibrahimovic added.
“Going back to Italy, I was happy in Italy and I knew I would be happy if I go back and I didn’t know if I would be happy if I go to City because it’s a different challenge.
“It would have been a new club, which Milan also was.”But I knew the city because I had three years at Inter, I knew the country, so I took a little bit of a safe card.”
