Just the one season they spent together at Internazionale was enough to make kung-fu man Zlatan Ibrahimovic completely fall head over heels with Jose Mourinho, and there is no better time to analyze the pair's close relationship than in the buildup to Paris SG – Chelsea.
Taken from one of the best football autobiographies ever written, "I am Zlatan" by David Lagercrantz, these ten quotes leave nothing to doubt as to the fact that the Portuguese manager is a very important and admirable figure in the career and life of the Swedish striker.
Top ten quotes Ibrahimovic quotes on Mourinho
1. “He formed an attachment to me even before we met. He would become a guy I was basically willing to die for.”
2. “Mourinho is Portuguese, and he likes to be at the center of things. He manipulates players like no one else.”
3. “I liked him straight away. We clicked. We understood each other, and I realised right away. This guys works hard. He works twice as hard as all the rest.”
4. “I’ve never met a manager with that kind of knowledge about the opposing sides… We all sensed it immediately: This guy knows his stuff.”
5. “I felt increasingly that this guy gives everything for the team, so I want to give everything for him. It was a quality he had. People were willing to kill for him.”
6. “He stood right by the touchline, following the game, like a general on the battlefield…”
7. [On the famous back heel goal v Atalanta which meant Zlatan was top scorer in Serie A for season 2008/2009] “It was Mourinho, the man with the face of stone. The man who never batted an eyelid had woken up. He was like a madman. He was cheering like a schoolboy, jumping up and down, and I smiled. So I got you going, after all. But it took some doing.” (Watch video 1 below.)
8. “No matter how happy I was going to Barca, it was sad to leave Mourinho. That guys is special.”
9. “The following year, he left Inter for Real Madrid, and at the same time he and Materrazzi parted ways. Materazzi is about the world’s toughest defender. As he hugged Mourinho, though, he began to cry, and I can understand him in a way. Mourinho arouses feelings in people…” (Watch video 2 below.)
10. [Their final conversation at Inter Milan]
Zlatan: “Thanks. You’ve taught me a lot.”
Mourinho: “You’re going to Barca to win the Champions, huh?”
Zlatan: “Yeah, maybe.”
Mourinho: “But we’re the ones who’re gonna bring it home – don’t forget. It’s gonna be us!”
While it is almost inconceivable that PSG would ever want to let their star striker go, with an affection of such magnitude as the one shared between these two, who could ever rule out a future with the former Inter manager and Ibra on the same team?
