FABIO CAPELLO HAS claimed credit for making Zlatan Ibrahimovic the player he is today, saying the Swede could not shoot when he turned up at Juventus.
The enigmatic striker arrived in Turin from Ajax in 2004 with a blossoming reputation, but was considered to be a rough diamond in need of some polishing.
Capello says he helped in that process, as the raw talent was refined and put on a path which has taken him to the very top of the game via Inter, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United.
“When Ibrahimovic arrived at Juventus, he was not good at shooting,” Capello told Sky Italia.
“Mino Raiola said to me: ‘Zlatan is really strong, he breaks the hands of the goalkeepers’.
“I said to him: ‘Listen to me, for the moment he only broke the windows of the gym’.
“Then Ibrahimovic began to train every day and, obviously, as everyone knows, he improved a lot.”
Capello, who spent two years with Juve after leaving Roma, insists that he never had any problems with Ibrahimovic, even if he can be a bit of a handful at times.
He added: “I targeted Ibrahimovic when I was Roma coach.
“Juventus made an incredible purchase, they bought him for €16 million payable in four payments. At Ajax they decided he would not be a great player. They preferred to keep Mido, who was easier to manage.
“Ibrahimovic also had some problems at Juve, for example with [Jonathan] Zebina, but then [Luciano] Moggi arrived and settled everything.”
While Ibrahimovic has shown himself to be one of the top performers in this or any other era, he is not the finest talent Capello has had the pleasure of working with.
The vastly-experienced Italian has coached a number of iconic figures down the years, with his CV including stints at Juve, Milan, Roma, Real Madrid and as boss of the England national team.
It was during his time in Spain that a man now in charge of Jiangsu Suning claims to have worked with the best around, with an iconic Brazilian leaving a lasting impression towards the end of his career.
“The best player I coached was Ronaldo,” said Capello.
“Unfortunately, I found him at the end of his career when he weighed 96kg. I asked him: ‘What was your weight at the 2002 World Cup?’. He told me 84. I replied: ‘Try at least to go back to 88kg’. Anyway, he was a great player.”
Capello was the man to let Ronaldo leave Real, as the World Cup-winning striker went to AC Milan in January 2007 while the Blancos headed towards a Liga title.
- Omni
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