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Ibrahimovic reveals how he nearly joined Arsenal AND Man City, while lauding Mourinho

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has lifted the lid on how he turned down a trial at Arsenal at the age of 20 and came close to joining Manchester City in 2011 - while lavishing praise on Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.

The much-travelled Swede has never played in the Premier League, but disclosed his close brushes with English football in his autobiography I am Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The striker revealed how Arsene Wenger missed out on the opportunity to snap up him over a decade ago, saying: "I went out to Arsenal’s training facility near St Albans.

"I saw Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp out on the pitch. The really awesome thing was that I was going to meet Arsene Wenger. I felt like a little boy when we stepped into his office.

"I shivered a bit under Wenger’s gaze. It was like he was trying to see through me, or size me up. He’s a man who draws up psychological profiles of his players — are they emotionally stable? That sort of stuff. He is thorough, like all great coaches, and I didn’t say much at first.

"I just sat in silence and was bashful, but after a while I lost my patience. Something about Wenger set me off. He would leap up every so often to check who was outside his window. It seemed as if he wanted to keep an eye on everything, and he kept going on about one thing all the time.

"'You can have a trial with us,’ he said. ‘You can give it a try. You can test things out.’ No matter how much I wanted to behave, those words set me off.

"‘Give me a pair of boots. I’ll have a trial. I’ll do it right now,’ I said. Then Borg (Malmo’s sporting director, Hasse Borg) interrupted me, saying, ‘Stop, stop, we’ll sort this out, you’re not going to have a trial, not at all,’ and of course, I understood what he was getting at: either you’re interested, or you’re not.

"Having a trial puts you in a weak position, so we said no: ‘We’re sorry, Mr Wenger, but we are not interested.’ I’m sure it was the right decision, though."

Ibrahimovic also indicated that City showed interest in his services when he left Barcelona in 2011, revealing: "When I was forced to leave Barcelona by Pep Guardiola in 2011, sure I knew all about the incredible things that had happened at Manchester City and all the money that seemed to be there since the crew from the UAE had taken over.

"City could surely become big within a few years. But I’d soon turn 29. I didn’t have time for long-term plans and money was never a big thing. I wanted to go to a club that could be good now and there was no club with a history like AC Milan.

He also made his admiration for Mourinho clear, after the pair worked together at Inter Milan.

"Jose Mourinho is a big star. He’d been my manager at Inter. He’s nice. The first time he met my partner Helena, he whispered to her: ‘Helena, you have only one mission: feed Zlatan, let him sleep, keep him happy.’ That guy says whatever he wants. I like him. He’s the leader of his army. But he cares, too. He would text me all the time at Inter, wondering how I was doing. He’s the exact opposite of Pep Guardiola.

"If Mourinho lights up a room, Guardiola draws the curtains. I guessed that Guardiola was trying to match up to him.

"Mourinho would become a guy I was basically willing to die for."

express.co.uk

Massive shock: Now Beckham signs for Arsenal (yeah right)

THERE’S more good news for Arsenal fans following their £42m capture of Mesut Ozil – they’re now favourites to sign Beckham.

But it’s not former England captain David who is set to play for the Gunners – it is his ten-year-old son Romeo.

The youngster – who was spotted with his dad and brothers Brooklyn and Cruz at last week’s north London derby at The Emirates – has pledged his future to Arsenal via social networking sites. He wrote on his Instagram page: “Gunna play for Arsenal one day!”

But Manchester United legend David could have something to say about his boy’s choice of team.

He revealed earlier this year he “wasn’t sure” how he had allowed Romeo to become a fan of the North London club.

He said: “I have two sons who support Manchester United and one who is an Arsenal fan. I took him to an Arsenal game and Arsene Wenger treated him so well and gave him a shirt with his name on the back.”

David, 38, trained with Arsenal earlier this year before joining Paris Saint-Germain and was often joined by his son at the Ligue 1 club’s training ground.

Perhaps Romeo believes being a professional footballer will help him become a hit with girls, just like his older brother Brooklyn.

dailystar.co.uk