Zlatan Ibrahimovic Gets Awesome, Shirtless Statue in His Hometown

“When you come to New York, you have the Statue of Liberty. When you come to Sweden, you have the Statue of Zlatan.”

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s hometown in Sweden unveiled a statue in his honor, and it turned out just as well as a legend like him deserves. 

The 1,100-pound bronze work of art was placed outside the Stadion in Mälmo, the home of Ibrahimovic’s boyhood club, where he made his professional debut 20 years ago. It’s a pretty spot-on likeness of the larger-than-life striker and the man himself seemed quite pleased with the result.

The statue has been in the works for quite some time. Back in 2016, Zlatan posed with an early version of sculpture and shared an instant-classic quote on Instagram. 

“When you come to New York you have the Statue of Liberty, when you come to Sweden you have the Statue of Zlatan,” he wrote. 

The only thing fans can’t seem to wrap their heads around is why the statue is shirtless, but by this point in his career we should realize that Zlatan does what he wants.