Zlatan Ibrahimovic Says Premier League Quality is 'Overrated'

Ibrahimovic also had pointed words for the critics who thought he couldn't succeed in the Premier League at an advanced age.

Former Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimović has claimed that the standard of football in the English Premier League is overrated, and put critics suggesting he was physically incapable of succeeding in the division well and truly in their place.

The Swedish marksman joined United at the age of 35 and scored 28 goals in 46 appearances despite many pundits suggesting he was over the hill. After suffering a serious ligament injury at the end of the campaign, Ibrahimović was released by the Red Devils and subsequently joined MLS side LA Galaxy - where he netted 22 goals in his debut season.

Speaking to Four Four Two, the outspoken former Man United footballer gave his opinion on the Premier League, and claimed: "I’d had a long career before I came – different kinds of countries, different kinds of clubs. People said, ‘You don’t need to go to England, because if you fail in England, people will always say you weren’t good enough'.

"Everybody was against it. And guess what? That made me motivated. That gave me adrenaline. I liked the Premier League. I found it very motivating and very exciting. It gets a lot of attention, although I feel the quality is a little bit overrated – the individual quality, the technical part."

Ibrahimović continued: "As I said when I was in England, you’re lucky I didn’t come 10 years ago, because if I did what I did at 35 years old, imagine it if I was 25. Then it would have been a different story. I came there and they said I came in a wheelchair. All the people that talked, in the whole Premier League, I put them in a wheelchair. That’s what I did."

With the LA Galaxy failing to qualify for the MLS postseason, rumors have began circulating that Serie A sleeping giants AC Milan could look to re-sign the towering striker to give their side a boost. 

It remains to be seen whether I Rossoneri will attempt to make the audacious January swoop, which would add another big character to a league already boasting Cristiano Ronaldo.