The Story Of Ibrahimovic & Mourinho

“From being a cat, I felt like a lion. He was amazing. He dragged out of me things that no other coach has done before. When I played I felt like a Terminator.”

That is how Zlatan Ibrahimovic once described his old Internazionale manager Jose Mourinho, who is now his new Manchester United boss following Friday's announcement of his arrival at Old Trafford.

Such quotes have become his hallmark during a sparkling career and he suitably chooses his words carefully, painting pictures as memorable as his goals. Yes he may exaggerate at times, knowing the media laps up such hyperbole, yet there is no doubt that his relationship with Mourinho is built on respect and an obsession with winning. They have formed a seductive alliance that attracts success.

Ibrahimovic explained on Friday that his transfer to United is linked to Mourinho’s appointment as manager and that is fathomable, given that he has been a long-term supporter of the Special One since the pair won the Serie A title together during their one and only season at Inter Milan in 2008/09.

Ibra, as he is known, famously left the San Siro for Barcelona but struggled to forge a relationship with new manager Pep Guardiola, now at Manchester City, which led to him leaving Camp Nou for AC Milan two seasons later. The 34-year-old has since spoken about his admiration for Mourinho’s managerial methods, having experienced what he perceived to be a lesser experience in Spain.

As fans will know the Swede is a fiercely single-minded character who does not hand over his loyalty to anybody and everybody. It must be earned. It must be deserved. It must be demanded. So how did Mourinho win him over so quickly in Milan? Well it all began with a simple phone call back in 2008.

Inter had just appointed Mourinho as manager and the Portuguese quickly made contact with his star striker, who was away representing Sweden at the European Championship. Zlatan had worried he’d receive a few stern words of advice from his new boss, but was relieved when Jose simply expressed his excitement about working together in Italy. The only problem was a language barrier.

Mourinho had claimed to learn Italian in just three weeks and spoke so fluently in that conversation with Zlatan that the Swede was forced to switch to English, because his own Italian was inferior. They hit it off, nevertheless, and continued to exchange a series of text messages throughout Euro 2008.

Writing in his popular 2012 autobiography, I am Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the striker recalled: “I could sense it: this guy cares. The questions he asks are different, somehow, and after the match against Spain I got a text message. I get a ton of texts all the time. But this one was from Mourinho. ‘Well played,’ he wrote, and then gave me some sound advice. I promise you, I stopped in my tracks.

“I’d never had that before. A text message from the coach! I mean, I’d been playing with the Swedish squad, which was nothing to do with him. Still, he got involved, and I replied and got more messages. It was like, Wow! Mourinho’s checking me out! I felt appreciated. Maybe that’s guy wasn’t so tough and harsh after all. Sure, I understood he was sending those texts for a reason. It was like a pep talk. He wanted my loyalty. I liked him straight away. We clicked. We understood each other, and I realised right away that this guy works hard. He works twice as hard as all the rest.”

After those initial conversations, the pair finally met following the European Championship and Ibrahimovic has spoken about his surprise at seeing a “short man with narrow shoulders” instantly commanding the respect of the Inter dressing room, who “went up to the guys that thought they were untouchable and let them have it”. This was clearly Zlatan’s kind of guy, particularly after Mourinho then met his wife, Helena, and said her one mission was to "feed Zlatan, let him sleep, keep him happy".

It became a match made in heaven that inspired Inter to win the Serie A title by 10 points, ahead of Juventus and neighbours AC Milan, as well as the Supercoppa Italiana. Zlatan scored 25 goals in all competitions, while also winning the Footballer of the Year and Goal of the Year awards. But did that please Mourinho? Amusingly, as Ibra recalls, the manager’s expression always remained neutral.

“He pumped me up and cut me down,” he wrote. “He was a master at manipulating the team, and there was just one thing that really bothered me; his facial expression when we played. No matter what I did, or what goals I scored, he looked just as ice-cold. It was as if nothing had happened, and I was more awesome than ever… I thought, I’m bloody well going to make sure that I liven him up, even if I had to achieve a miracle. One way or another, I was going to make that man cheer.”

The alliance has dramatically been rekindled at Old Trafford, of all places, and that appeared highly unlikely 12 months ago. Yet football has a fondness for retelling old stories and Zlatan has already compared this unexpected reunion to Floyd Mayweather finally boxing Manny Pacquiao after years of negotiations.

As you'd expect, Ibrahimovic expects a more entertaining and celebrated experience than that anti-climactic bout in Las Vegas, and it is fitting to hand our new talisman the final word on the matter.

"The only regret I had with Jose was that it was a short time with him," he said on Friday. "He is a winner, I am a winner, we both know what we want and that is to win. Wherever we go we win, and we will win."

Credit: Manutd.com