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Zlatan Ibrahimovic recalls moment when £1 was deducted from his salary at Manchester United

Home> Football

Updated 11:56 27 Jun 2023 GMT+1Published 11:51 27 Jun 2023 GMT+1

Zlatan Ibrahimovic recalls moment when £1 was deducted from his salary at Manchester United

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has recalled the time he drank a £1 fruit juice from a hotel mini-bar during his spell at Man Utd.

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare

Zlatan Ibrahimovic once recalled the time he drank a £1 fruit juice from a hotel mini-bar; only for it to be deducted from his Manchester United payslip.

The experienced Swede completed a highly-anticipated move to Old Trafford in the summer of 2016 after his contract at Paris Saint-Germain expired.

It was seen as a big coup. Ibrahimovic, who reportedly picked up a £200,000-a-week wage at United, would go on to be a huge success under Jose Mourinho, scoring 17 goals in 28 appearances during his first season at the club.

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He would lift the Europa League, League Cup and Community Shield with the Reds.

Three years after his spell at United and Ibrahimovic opened up on how the club operate on a daily basis.

In his autobiography Adrenaline, the outspoken striker revealed what surprised him at "one of the richest and most powerful clubs in the world" - and it makes for fascinating reading.

"One thing surprised me: everyone thinks of United as a top club, one of the richest and most powerful in the world and seen from the outside it looked that way to me," he writes.

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"But once I was there I found a small, closed mentality."

Ibrahimovic went on to speak about the £1 fruit juice incident, as well as showing his papers just to get into the club's training ground facility at Carrington.

"One day I was in the hotel with the team before a game. I got thirsty so I opened the mini-bar and had a fruit juice," he said.

"We played and then went home. Some time went by. My payslip arrives. Normally I don't look at it. I only do so at the end of the year to see what's come in and what's gone out. But that time, I don't know why, I was curious and realised they'd taken a pound off my monthly wage."

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Image credit: PA
Image credit: PA

Ibrahimovic continued, writing: "I called the team manager: 'Excuse me, why have they taken a pound off my salary.' The team manager had a look and told me: 'It was the fruit juice from the mini-bar.' 'Are you kidding, seriously?' 'No, I'm not. Here, if you order something you have to pay for it.'

...'Sure, but I didn't go to the hotel on my own accord. I wasn't on holiday. It was my workplace. I was there for Manchester. If I have to play and I'm thirsty, I have to drink. I can't go on the pitch dehydrated.'

"Can you believe it? A quid? Something like that would never happen in Italy. These are the details that make a difference and earn the respect of the players.

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"Every day I was asked to show my papers just to get into the training ground. I'd lower my window and say to the person at the gate: 'Listen my friend I've been coming here every day for a month. I'm the best player in the world. If you still don't recognise me, you're in the wrong job.'"

Image credit: PA
Image credit: PA

In his autobiography, Ibrahimovic also revealed that former executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward told him he "ruined" a £5 million PR plan that the club had in place.

Ibrahimovic has claimed all "hell broke loose" when his 'time to let the world know' tweet was posted.

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"I was so tired of the negotiations that I didn't think Manchester [United] was listed on the stock exchange," he writes. "You may not make similar announcements if the matter is not clear. All hell broke loose. Mino wanted to kill me."

Ibrahimovic added: "It's just my fault, Mino Raiola had nothing to do with it. I lost my patience, that's all. It felt like I was standing in quicksand trying to do something to take me forward, without thinking about the consequences.

"If the deal goes down now, then that's it, we'll let it go. I'm the one who did the wrong thing. I apologise once again."

Thoughts on Ibrahimovic's comments about his spell at Old Trafford?

Let us know in the comments.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Manchester United, Premier League, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden

Jack Kenmare
Jack Kenmare

Jack is a Senior Journalist who enjoys a long read. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of Football Manager wonderkids from 2005 to the present day, and has interviewed a handful of FM's finest, including Freddy Adu, Supat Rungratsamee and Mika Aaritalo.

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@jackkenmare_

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