Zlatan Ibrahimovic says he would face no moral issues playing in Saudi Arabia, but questioned why players would not want to end their career on the big stage.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Brazil striker Neymar, Karim Benzema and England midfielder Jordan Henderson are among players to have made the switch to the Saudi Pro League, along with former Manchester City forward Riyad Mahrez and Ruben Neves.
Ibrahimovic, who retired from football in June, has played for some of the leading clubs in Europe, including Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Paris St Germain and Manchester United, while also having a successful spell in America with LA Galaxy later in his career.
Zlatan Ibrahimović tells Piers Morgan he wouldn't have any moral problem with playing in Saudi Arabia.
"Listen, wherever you play football, it's football… nothing in life is for free."@Ibra_official | @piersmorgan | @TalkTV | #PMU pic.twitter.com/4bEAgVnV0p
— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) October 5, 2023
The 42-year-old former Sweden international revealed in an interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored he had received an offer from Saudi Arabia as well as China, but feels the level of competition must always be top of any footballer’s list.
“I had an offer also from China, I had an offer also from Saudi,” he said. “But the situation is, what do you want? What objectives do you have? 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. Because if you were remembered in the opposite way, what we are training every day for, what we are being recognised for is our talent and that is 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.
“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.”
When asked about whether he would have a moral problem playing in Saudi Arabia, Ibrahimovic said: “No, absolutely not.
“You have the golf situation now. They came together and they made it one, so I am just sorry for the (golf) 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.
I came, I saw, I conquered. Thank you @lagalaxy for making me feel alive again. To the Galaxy fans – you wanted Zlatan, I gave you Zlatan. You are welcome. The story continues…Now go back to watch baseball pic.twitter.com/kkL6B6dJBr
— Zlatan Ibrahimović (@Ibra_official) November 13, 2019
“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 ourself and our family. Who will judge you in five or 10 years when you have a wealthy, healthy life and have a good life?
“Nothing is for free – you (Morgan) don’t work for free, I don’t work for free. I don’t need money, but I am very expensive.”
