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Zlatan Ibrahimovic has taken a sly dig at Cristiano Ronaldo and co for going after the paycheck by moving to Saudi Arabia and warned against others such as Mohamed Salah to follow suit. Ronaldo was the first of many European superstars to make the leap to the Gulf State with record sums being offered to prise them away from elite clubs.<\/p>\n
Neymar, N’Golo Kante, Karim Benzema, Fabinho, Aymeric Lapore and Sadio Mane were among those tempted by the lucrative sums on offer in Saudi Arabia. Salah emerged as their next top target just days before the summer transfer window closed, but Liverpool rejected a bid worth \u00a3150million for the Egyptian.<\/p>\n
The 31-year-old is said to be happy at Merseyside, but Saudi Arabia’s riches are expected to try again to tempt the winger into a move away. Ibrahimovic retired from professional football last year and he admitted to having an offer from Saudi Arabia before he called time on his illustrious career.<\/p>\n
However, the Swedish football icon wanted to be remembered for his career as opposed to the money he was earning out in the Middle East in an apparent warning to others thinking of taking up a lucrative offer in Saudi. \u201cI had an offer also from China. I had an offer also from Saudi, but the situation is, what do you want? What objectives do you have?” Ibrahimovic told Piers Morgan Uncensored.<\/p>\n
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“I said before we started, like certain players need to finish their career on the big stage because that is the high end of your career. You have to be remembered for your talent, not for what you earned.<\/p>\n
“Because if you were remembered in the opposite way, what we are training every day for, what we are being recognized for, is our talent and that’s what you want to be remembered for. So I think certain players that reach a certain level, they have to stop at a certain stage, and that’s the big stage.<\/p>\n
“You cannot go in a lower stage and finish your career in a different way. But some players needed the situations where you can earn a lot of money because they didn’t earn enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Don’t miss… <\/strong> We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n But Ibrahimovic added that he had no moral problem about playing in Saudi Arabia, adding: “You have the golf situation now. They came together and they made it one, so I am just sorry for the players that didn’t go before because they didn’t get the money that the [other] players got. Listen, wherever you play football, it’s football. Football connects people. It’s a dream we share, both of us.<\/p>\n “You are a fan, you are not a professional. You are an Arsenal fan, and I feel sorry for you a little bit, but as a professional football player, as long as you play football, and Saudi is growing, MLS is growing. China had a peak, and then I don’t know, the situation changed there. But a moral thing, no, we do things for ourselves and our family.<\/p>\n “Who would judge you in five or 10 years when you have a wealthy, healthy life and have a good life? Because I don’t think anything is for free. You don’t work for free. I don’t work for free. I don’t need money but I am very expensive, that’s the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n To watch the full interview go to Piers Morgan Uncensored on YouTube.<\/p>\n
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