After joining Serie A champions last summer, Cristaino Ronaldo said he was excited at the challenge that lay ahead of him at Juve, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic doesn’t believe that Ronaldo’s move to Bianconeri brought him more challenges.
Ronaldo joined Juventus on a four-year contract after spending nine seasons at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu. The Portuguese star has scored 20 goals and assisted a further 11 strikes in 31 games across all competitions so far.
Ibrahimovic insisted at the time that he did not feel the move was a much of a test as former Madrid star made it out to be as the Italian club is already a European powerhouse.
“I didn’t say his transfer wasn’t great. I said that it wasn’t a challenge to join Juventus. It’s not a challenge to go to one of the best teams in the world.” Ibrahimovic said.
“Maybe it depends on what you mean by challenge. For me, a challenge is joining a team and taking them far. That’s a challenge.” Ibrahimovic added.
However, the Los Angeles Galaxy striker was quick to praise the move as he admits Ronaldo’s arrival has brought many benefits and attention to the Serie A.
“In any case, this is a great signing for Italian football, because with him, my second home of Serie A has grown.” Ibrahimovic said.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored 22 goals for Los Angeles Galaxy so far. (Source:www.thetelegraph.co.uk)
When asked about Champions League and who he thinks are the favorites to win, Ibrahimovic said there are four teams have a big chance to win the title this year.
“This year is very open. There isn’t a team who are better than all the others or a favourite. Maybe one of my old teams will win: PSG, Manchester United, Juve or Barcelona.” Ibrahimovic.
“Unfortunately Inter have been eliminated, while Milan aren’t there. There are four teams and I hope one of them win it.” he added.
Ibrahimovic moved from Ajax to Juventus for 106 millions euros in 2004. The Swedish star scored 23 goals in 70 appearances alongside Serie A giants before moved to Inter Milan in 2006.
In his current MLB clubs, Ibrahimovic has scored 22 goals and assisted a further 6 strikes in 27 games for Galaxy.