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Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Newcastle United: It would be ‘Fascinating’ according to Keown

8 years ago
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Newcastle United in the summer – by a process of elimination Martin Keown has came up with Newcastle as the perfect club for the Swedish superstar next season.

Turning 35 in October, Keown believes that Ibrahimovic will be desperate to take a final chance to play in the Premier League.

With over 300 career goals for club and country and countless medals, the forward has scored another 34 for PSG this season and helped to make them slight favourites to go through to the Champions League final eight, after beating Chelsea 2-1 in the first left on Tuesday.

Martin Keown gives various reasons as to why the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United wouldn’t want to take him on.

Which then brings him to Newcastle United as possibly an ideal destination, as Keown says ‘Imaging him being a new No 9 up there!’.

A nice daydream for Newcastle fans to have as we are currently stuck in the relegation zone with only a dozen matches left.

The former Arsenal player turned pundit says that with all the money in the Premier League, especially the enhanced TV deals from next season, why shouldn’t a deal be possible?

Whilst he is one of the real top stars of world football, when you look at the players which clubs likes Stoke and others are signing, why shouldn’t a club that is often one of the best 10 supported in Europe and turns over more money each year than all but less 20 other clubs in the world, why shouldn’t we dream?

Seeing the money wasted on the likes of Thauvin, Cabella, Riviere…Saivet(???) – why wouldn’t it make sense for Newcastle to totally review their transfer strategy and potentially see the value of making offers for players that make you think ‘He’d never come but…’?

Martin Keown talking to The Mail:

“I would love to see him (Ibrahimovic) play in the Premier League and surely he’d want the opportunity to play in England.

“I don’t know whether Arsene Wenger would gamble on him, Zlatan had a chance years ago at Arsenal but turned it down, given the wages and his age it doesn’t feel like an Arsenal deal.

“I am not sure Chelsea would take him either, imagine the clash between him and Diego Costa! I just don’t think you could play those two together.

“I doubt very much Pep Guardiola would take him at Manchester City given their fall-out at Barcelona and I don’t think (Manchester) United would take the punt either because they need a long-term option up front.

“Of course Zlatan’s wages and profile means he’d most likely head to one of the big clubs but I would be fascinated if he went somewhere like Newcastle United.

“It’s unlikely I know but imagine him being a new No 9 up there! His wages might be extortionate but there will be a lot of money swirling around in the Premier League next season.

“He’s an unbelievable player but he plays in flashes. Wherever he goes, his manager really has to manage him.

“On Tuesday we saw moments of magic, quality and imagination but it’s when he plays right up against defenders that he really asks questions.

“Zlatan has an arrogance where he wants to go looking for the ball to try and make things happen. His manager has to keep him where he’s at his most effective.”

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