Joey Barton sends Zlatan Ibrahimovic cheeky message after retirement announcement

Joey Barton has sent Zlatan Ibrahimovic a message of congratulations after the striker announced his retirement from football. However, how sincere the message actually is is up for debate.

Back in 2013, the Englishman was caught on camera when playing for Marseille making a gesture towards Ibrahimovic, who was playing for Paris Saint-Germain, indicating that the Swede had a large nose.

The former midfielder explained the context of the gesture years later, saying: “Ibra didn’t like it because things weren’t going his way and he told me, in no uncertain terms, I think he called me an ‘English p***y’, which is one of the nicer things I’ve been called.

“So, I said to him ‘stop fouling me, don’t put your hands on me then the ref won’t give a foul’.

“And he’s saying, ‘ah, you’re meant to be a strong man, stay on your feet’.

“I’m like, ‘well, I’m not going to stay on my feet if you’re fouling me.

“So, I think he was calling me something else derogatory - I don’t think I can say it on the camera - and I started laughing.

“And I said, ‘yeah, yeah, I am. I might be a p***y but you’ve got a very big nose. A very, very big nose’.

“He said something back, then I made the gesture which was caught by the cameras - and this is the meme that goes around every time anything is said by me about Ibra.”

Now, the 40-year-old has taken to Twitter to suggest all is okay between the two, posting the incident as a GIF with the caption: "Congratulations on a fantastic career. Enjoy retirement @Ibra_official #bignose."

Barton retired from playing back in 2017 and has since managed Fleetwood Town and is currently manager at Bristol Rovers.

Meanwhile, Ibrahimovic announced his retirement at the age of 41, having played just four times for current side AC Milan this season after recovering from a serious knee injury.