Premier League legend in tears when ‘conceited’ Zlatan Ibrahimovic ‘kicked him on function’
Tottenham legend Rafael van der Vaart has laid into Zlatan Ibrahimovic and labelled him an ‘a**hole’.
In an explosive interview, Van der Vart reveals how he fell out with the Sweden and Manchester United icon when he played alongside him at Ajax. He told BetMGM’s The LineUp his relationship with Ibrahimovic got so bad the duo almost came to blows.
Van der Vart, 41, said: “I thought he was an a**hole! We had quite a lot of fights at Ajax and we just didn’t get along.
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“I thought he was very arrogant and I had a big ego too. We were both young but had to find a way to play together, which we managed.
“We had a national game against Sweden and he kicked me quite hard on the ankle. I was lying there, crying almost, and I looked at him, bearing in mind he’s my team-mate at Ajax, and he just walked off.
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“After the game, I went mad and told the press he did it on purpose. I sat in the dressing room and realised I’d overreacted, and apologised to him over the phone and it was all okay.
“The next day in training, he absolutely went in on me, we had a big screaming match, and the whole team had to break it up. Some of the team chose him and some of them chose me.
“Two days later he left for Juventus. This was because he had to leave or I had to leave, neither of us could accept playing in the same team.”