His agent Mino Raiola, who is also employed by Mario Balotelli says that 99.9% Zlatan Ibrahimovic is going to remain at Barca.
The over rated striker was not used by Pep Guardiola for even a single minute of the recent Spanish Super Cup between Barca and Sevilla. With Guardiola employing Messi, Bojan, and Pedro his minutes were curtailed last season. With David Villa’s arrival there will be a further drop off.
Ibra does not fit the Barca mould at all – he is just not part of that intricate short passing system which values the collective, not the individual. One wonders why Guardiola even brought him to Barca in the first place.
In fact, the best place for Ibra would be Man City where he would be reunited with Roberto Mancini, the manager under whom he had the most impact. But Ibra wants CL action which City cannot provide at the present moment.
He is now being linked to cash strapped Milan which might be relying on some of that Kaka transfer money left over to pull off a last day heist. Even Berlusconi has not discounted out the possibility. But can a club like Milan afford to pay Ibra’s annual wages of €12m plus a huge transfer fee as Barca try and recoup his costs? Not happening unless he takes a big salary cut. And then there is for whatever reason, Guardiola’s insistence that Ibra belongs in Barca.
Ibra got paid €12m for 36 matches last year which amounts to €333,334 per match or €3703 per minute played. That is a tidy sum of money for doing very little. Why should he ever leave?