10 Things Everybody Should Know About Zlatan Ibrahimovic...

As we approach the start of the 2016/17 Premier League season, almost all of the focus has been on how Manchester United will fare. With serial winner Jose Mourinho now at the helm and the club seemingly showing a willingness to spend limitless amounts of money, they're once again considered title favourites by most bookies. 

There's still an ongoing saga over whether the ultra-talented but somewhat enigmatic Paul Pogba will sign from Juventus (with a transfer fee reportedly approaching an astonishing £100m). However, the club have already confirmed the signature of football's most confident player Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

#daretozlatan - now available in red

There are plenty of Chuck Norris-esque myths about Zlatan Ibrahimovic, with gems such as: "when Zlatan does a push-up, he's actually pushing the Earth down" and "Zlatan turned up to training late one day, so the manager punished all of the other players for arriving early".

However, we're separating fact from fiction today, so read on to discover some of the most interesting true facts about Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

1. He was a childhood thief

Zlatan had a very rough upbringing and as a youngster was regularly a person of interest to the Swedish police. He openly admits that during his early teenage years he was known as a bicycle thief. 

If you read his autobiography you'll also discover he often threw bricks through windows, shoplifted in supermarkets and even once attempted to rob a postman.

2. He is a taekwondo black belt

Remember that overhead kick Zlatan scored against England? It was no ordinary overhead kick, it was an outrageous combination of skill, agility and sheer athleticism. 

Zlatan has gone on record in the past about how his black belt in taekwondo helps him score some of the spectacular goals he has managed in his career.

3. Zlatan's favourite footballer is...

Considering the wealth of talent Zlatan has played both alongside and against, there was a fairly substantial number of star players Zlatan could name the greatest ever. Could it be Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Iniesta, Thierry Henry?

We're willing to bet some of you might now be saying to yourself: "it's Zlatan so I bet he picks himself as his favourite footballer." Well you'd be wrong, because Zlatan thinks the greatest player of all time is the Brazilian Ronaldo. 

It's hard to argue against that decision considering the career this guy had. He certainly wasn't picking the player with the best haircut though.

4. He made his professional debut in the 90s...

Okay, only just to be fair. Zlatan's first professional match was in 1999 for his first club Malmo. Still, it's crazy to think that he's been playing professional football for 17 years. 

He moved to Ajax in 2001 and has gone on to play for the likes of Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan and then finally Paris Saint-Germain, before of course recently signing for Manchester United - that's some C.V.

Zlatan was only 23 years old when he scored that utterly ridiculous goal for Ajax against NAC Breda in 2004.

5. He was nearly a Southampton player...

Surely you mean he was nearly an Arsenal player I hear you ask? Nope, Zlatan's career path nearly took him to St. Mary's. Believe it or not his move from Malmo to Ajax was not initially a success. He managed only six goals in his first season in Holland and the manager tried to pawn him off on loan.

Southampton were interested and the club and manager wanted him to go. Zlatan flat-out refused to go and remained in Holland for two more (very successful) seasons.

That's right Southampton fans, this could've happened... 

6. Zlatan's wages at PSG...

Ibrahimovic's annual salary at the French champions was an astonishing €11.3m after tax! 

When you consider that in France Zlatan was paying 75% income tax, that means the club were actually forking out €412,000 every week for the honour of having Ibrahimovic at the Parc des Princes.

7. He could have represented two other countries other than Sweden...

Despite being born and raised in Sweden, Zlatan's parents were both immigrants to the country which would have allowed him to represent either nation at international level.

Both Croatia and Bosnia-Herzogovina could have called upon the superstar's services if they had been persuasive enough. Zlatan made his international debut for Sweden in 2001.

8. His best friend in football...

Again, you almost expect the answer to this to be something along the lines of "Zlatan is Zlatan's best friend as he is the best company". 

However, Zlatan's best pal in the game is someone he's played alongside at Inter Milan, Barcelona, Ajax and PSG. We are of course talking about the ultra-reliable Brazilian left back Maxwell. 

Photo credit: Ligue1.com

9. His work rate...

Nobody at Manchester united thinks they're signing a player who will harass defenders like Jamie Vardy does for Leicester, with near-impossible energy reserves. Zlatan has always been a player who dined out on his ability on the ball, not on the amount of distance he could cover.

But did you know, during one infamous game Zlatan actually covered fewer kilometres on the pitch than his goalkeeper!? That's right, when Barca played Zlatan's former club Inter in the Champion's League in 2010 he didn't even cover the distance that Victor Valdes did between the sticks.

In his defence, Zlatan's heart clearly was no longer in it under Pep Guardiola's reign, famously quoted about the Spaniard's management of him as: "like buying a Ferrari and trying to drive it like a Fiat". 

10. Zlatan is in the dictionary...

We all know about the #daretozlatan hashtag that did the rounds on Twitter recently, but did you know that the phrase to Zlatan is actually in the Swedish dictionary?

The definition of the phrase is "to dominate or do something with extreme talent".

Zlatan may be entering his twilight years at Manchester United, however there's no doubt he'll bring goals, excitement, fireworks and probably some controversy to the Premier League during the 2016/17 season.

Do you think Zlatan will be a success at Man Utd? Let us know what you think in the comments below.