Former AC Milan and Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic “only hated three or four teammates” in his legendary playing career, according to Michael Ciani.
Ibrahimovic called it time on his prolific playing career last summer at the age of 41, following on from a second spell with Serie A side AC Milan.
The 42-year-old ex-Sweden international briefly played for United after he left Paris Saint-Germain in 2016 and reunited with Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford.
During his spell at United, Ibrahimovic made a superb impact for the ‘Special One’ and lifted a Europa League title and a League Cup in his debut season in England.
The former Barcelona, Juventus and Ajax star left United in 2018 and went on to play for MLS outfit LA Galaxy and AC Milan before calling it time on his career.
Ciani was at LA Galaxy when Ibrahimovic arrived at the club and his former teammate opened up to him about the players that he “hated.”
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Ibrahimovic ‘did not get along’ with one player
Ibrahimovic played alongside Edinson Cavani when he was at PSG, with the Swede often deployed as a striker and his former club teammate out on the wing.
The former Sweden striker lifted four Ligue 1 titles and three French League Cups with PSG, with Ibrahimovic scoring 156 times in 180 appearances for the club.
However, former LA Galaxy defender Ciani claimed that Ibrahimovic told him that ex-PSG star Cavani was a player that he ‘never liked’ in his career.
“If you are close with Cavani, Ibra doesn’t like it. Either you are with Ibra or against him,” he told RMC Sport in 2020.
“He told me that everything was fine with Laurent Blanc at PSG. The only person he did not get along with was Cavani.
“He told me that he had only hated three or four teammates in his entire career… and one of them was Cavani.”
Cavani on playing with Ibrahimovic
Cavani would follow in the same footsteps as Ibrahimovic and later played for United, having signed on a free transfer in 2020 under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The 36-year-old Uruguayan striker scored 19 times in 59 appearances for the Red Devils, with Cavani leaving Old Trafford in 2022 and signing for Valencia at the time.
During his spell at the Parisian-based club, Cavani would score an impressive 200 times in 301 appearances for PSG across all competitions.
The Uruguay international was dethroned as PSG’s all-time leading scorer by former teammate Kylian Mbappe, who has scored 224 times for the Ligue 1 side.
Cavani previously admitted that there was a “connection” between himself and Ibrahimovic, despite being forced out to play in a wide role at PSG.
“On a certain level, there’s a connection between us that comes much more easily than with other players,” he said in 2013 (via Goal).
“I think we just need to work on it a bit harder. We haven’t been playing together for very long, and we haven’t had the proper preparation.
“Still, we’ve proven that there is a connection between us, even though we will need to prepare more thoroughly in order to get better results.”