When a footballer openly criticises a manager, saying that the relationship he has with the manager is bad, and that there would be problems should they work together - it would rule that footballer out of joining the club that that manager is with.
Not Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Zlatan proves yet again that he is not a mere human in an intriguing minute long interview snippet with Sports Illustrated.
He begins by describing how bad his relationship is with Van Gaal, who he worked with at Ajax:
No, that's not good. He was a director in Ajax, and the way he is working is not the way I work.
When asked about the comments in his autobiography where he said that Van Gaal treats his players like boys rather than men, and whether that would be a problem should he join United:
Big problem. Big problem.
But when asked if that would totally prevent him from playing for United, Ibrahimovic was a lot more coy:
At the end, I think he is professional and I am professional. Whoever I work with, I never had this kind of problems, because at the end I need to do my job, he needs to do his job. And I think a lot of fights would happen, but that's something I like.
The full Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be available on Sports Illustrated Now on Friday.
