Not quite the deal Beckham got, but OTOH, Zlatan's club is already playing. Zlatan Ibrahimovic becomes part-owner of Swedish top-flight side Hammarby https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/50556043
Zlatan Ibrahimovic's statue outside Malmo stadium set on FIRE https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...fans-ownership-rivals-Hammarby-announced.html
‘A Betrayal’: Malmo Fury as Ibrahimovic Invests in Hammarby https://www.usnews.com/news/sports/...malmo-fury-as-ibrahimovic-invests-in-hammarby
Zlatan Ibrahimovic becomes co-owner of Swedish top-flight side Hammarby - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...ourinho-dismisses-rumours-Tottenham-move.html
What a crazy saga. Even his home was vandalized, fans and even former coaches have come out against him. You could say Zlatan has such a chip on his shoulder to begin with because he was an immigrant to Sweden and grew up in a tough ghetto, where he never felt accepted. He attains a level of success where he is truly adored by his hometown club, yet he ends up doing something that causes them to turn on him. Crazy.
It's business. Do you know if he tried to but into his first club or whether it was even partially for sale? Do you know if AEG made him an sales offer that was to good to turn down? Are you condemning Becks because he is the part owner of Miami? What about Landon? He packed his bags and moved to San Diego where co-founded the San Diego USL team and IIRC, led efforts to get an MLS franchise for San Diego. I'm quite sure that he will lead future efforts to get a franchise. Or is Zlatan just an easy and safe target.
I'm sure there are folks who might turn on Donovan because of the "Loyal", especially if they ever become a rival / competitor to the Galaxy. But even that's not the same. This this would be closer to Landon becoming part of the Seattle or LAFC ownership groups, cheesing it up next to Magic and Will Ferrell, taking photos with the YouTube / Puke Green jersey, talking about how exciting and highly-valued the club is and how he wants to make them the best in the USA. Not saying it'd justify vandalizing his home, but most of us would not forgive him for that.
One of the worst things I see is the pure anger and hatred in the fans closest to the pitch when the opposition players go near them to take a throw in or corner ..
First off, I have no issue with what LD is doing in San Diego. It's business and he's expanding the game to an under-served local market. However, if anything, Zlatan's situation with Hammarby is arguably even less contentious than LD's with San Diego because in European terms, Malmo and Stockholm aren't remotely close to each other geographically (it's a 7 hour drive) and Malmo FF and Hamarby aren't considered rivals. This is actually more like Beckham's situation with Club Internacional de Futbol Miami. Maybe it's because they were still holding out hope that he'd have a final run at Malmo and owning a team in the same league would presumably prevent that? In any case, it's a massive overreaction on the fan's part.
Well, that's one reason I used the Sounders as an example; they're not a regional rival, but we'd all hate it if Donovan became an owner of their team and invested in their success over the Galaxy's (and of course, Sounders fans would not let us live it down, either). If anything, the comparison is not congruous because Donovan was more important to our club than Ibra is to Malmo, really; he played, like, 1 season there. But he's considered a native son with Malmo being his hometown, so I guess I understand the ire from a fan perspective.
I think it was the ESPN article that suggested Malmo fans anger wasn't just about hid decision to invest in a club they competed with -- they were also angry about some things he said to the media about the fans expected reactions. I think most of us can relate to being po'd by Zlatan's condescending comments toward our club and league.
That I can relate to. Truth be told, something I'm contemplating for 2020 is withdrawing from discussion about the deeper workings of American soccer. MLS has its faults and flaws and heaven knows, USSF has all manner of issues but the pervasive negative attitude from supposed soccer fans in this country is just tedious and depressing. Especially as the most vocal critics of the league tend to support major teams in England, Spain and Italy, where the top clubs and leagues have crapped all over their smaller counterparts. I mean, Eufemiano Fuentes (the doctor implicated in the Operacion Puerto doping scandal) was quoted as saying that if he was required to list the people he'd supplied, Spain would be stripped of their World Cup. The same American Barca fans that were horrified about Nashville being placed in the Western Conference earlier this week, barely seem to be aware of that whole saga. Anyway, the point of this tangent is that while its all well and good saying we welcome Zlatan's "constructive criticism", we already get enough griping from the fans & prominent folks like Wynalda and Twellman, without our actual players piling on. Sorry... bit of a segue!
Meh I don’t hate Drew Carey for being part owners of The Sounders. Make your money. He was a huge Galaxy fan but he got a shot at owning a team and making some money. Now if Landon got San Diego in and went on to shit on his time at the Galaxy and all kinds of other BS then yeah it might get weird. But own your teams Becks and Landon. Make that cheddar.
"By Zlatan's Hammar be Malmo Destroyed"! As a God of the Days of Old, he knows how to make his presence felt.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic already requested to do a 45-minute training session in the gym with Milan's staff. We're only days away from his realization that he still has to deal with a FIAT or two in the dressing room.— Matteo Bonetti (@Bonetti) January 2, 2020
Quite sad. Zlatan Ibrahimovic statue sawn off at ankles and toppled in Malmo https://t.co/1jZpDNIBWB— Onoritse (@Onoritse411) January 9, 2020
He's also now scored in four different decades. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored his first goal after return to #Milan.#StatsInSport #zlatanibrahimovic pic.twitter.com/4GtR8jiURq— Stats In Sport (@statsinsport1) January 11, 2020 Go ahead and play top level football not even have an off-season at 38 Zlatan. You do you, homie.