A former coach of Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimović has claimed that the Paris Saint-Germain forward wants to return to former club Juventus, the club he left in 2006. Stefan Hansson, who coached Ibrahimović at his first senior club Malmö, says that the 32-year-old has confessed to him that he wants to return to Turin, though he would be willing to wait until next year to make a move back to the Italian champions.
Speaking to Italian newspaper Tuttosport, Hansson claims that, "Zlatan wants Juve. If not now, next year. He told me the other day: 'Stefan, I want to return to play for Juve. If you can not now, I'll do it in 2015.' It's so." Hansson also added Ibrahimović's stressing that "It's not a question of money," but added in another intriguing possibility: "Or maybe I'm moving to China."
Juventus was Ibrahimović's first foray into one of the 'big' European leagues after leaving Ajax in 2004, but he stayed at Juventus for only two years before moving on to Italian rivals Inter Milan. With 26 goals in 92 matches for the Old Lady, his time in Turin coincided with the least prolific goalscoring form of his life. Despite this, Juventus won the Italian league title in both of his seasons at the club; though both were stripped from the club due to the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal of 2006.
Considering his advancing years, a potential transfer fee for Ibrahimović would perhaps not be as extensive as might be expected for a man who has won nine league titles in his glittering career (plus the two at Juve), especially if the man himself tries to force through a move. His wages are likely to be astronomical, but he is also close to a guarantee of a league title - for a side with as firm a grip on Italian football as Juventus, this could be a frightening prospect.
Though PSG will be loathe to lose their biggest asset, Juve may well be in the market for a superstar with the futures of several of their players uncertain. Paul Pogba has been incessantly linked with a host of clubs including PSG and rumours linking Arturo Vidal to Manchester United are not going away - a significant transfer merry-go-round could be about to burst into life.