Zlatan Ibrahimovic playing for Barcelona, PSG, AC Milan, Manchester United and Ajax at Villa Park
Credit: Manh Tung, Breaking Media
Max Wilkins
Sat 21 March 2026 7:00, UK
Zlatan Ibrahimovic nearly became an Aston Villa player in 2001, Villa News has been told.
The 44-year-old is now retired, having played out a hugely impressive career across so many elite sides across world football.
From AC and Inter Milan to Manchester United, PSG and Barcelona, the Sweden legend has seen it all.
His playing career came to an end after four seasons at San Siro and has since played a role behind the scenes with the Rossoneri.
Things could have been so different if Ibrahimovic had joined Aston Villa at the early stages of his career, as Villa News reveals the inside details.
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Aston Villa chiefs met with Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2001
The iconic striker began his professional career after coming through the academy at Malmo before breaking into their first team.
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He went on to feature 40 times for the Allsvenskan outfit and certainly attracted interest from across Europe before he went on to become the Zlatan we all know.
Year(s) Club Appearances Goals
1999–2001 Malmo 40 16
2001–2004 Ajax 74 35
2004–2006 Juventus 70 23
2006–2009 Inter Milan 88 57
2009–2011 Barcelona 29 16
2011–2012 AC Milan 61 42
2012–2016 PSG 122 113
2016–2018 Manchester United 33 17
2018–2019 LA Galaxy 56 52
2020–2023 AC Milan 64 34
Zlatan Ibrahimovic career stats
Villa News has now learned that Ibrahimovic could have joined Aston Villa from Malmo after scouts brought Sir Doug Ellis to meet the starlet.
Former B6 scout Bryan King joined the then chairman and fellow scout Peter Withe at his house, but what happened next will leave the claret and blue faithful gutted.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, King said: “Peter Withe and I took Doug Ellis to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s home.
“We got to his house, and his father met us at the door with a vest on. Doug asked, ‘Did he know we were coming? He hasn’t put in much effort, has he?’
“Ibrahimovic was at Malmo at the time, and I had seen him before there at Rosenberg, a small club in the district he comes from.
Aston Villa Zlatan Ibrahimovic Malmo career stats
“We could have got him for £740,000, that was the deal from Malmo with a sell-on clause, but his father wanted £100,000 for himself.
“When Withe said to Doug about giving that to him, he said: ‘Give him what? I’m not giving him £100,000. No, no, no. He’s an unknown quantity; it’s not happening. I think we should leave.’
“We walked out, and within 10 days he signed for Ajax and the father got his £100,000.”
With Ollie Watkins struggling for goals, Villa could certainly do with someone like the Swede right now.
Who did Aston Villa sign instead of Zlatan Ibrahimovic?
Cast your mind back to the summer of 2001, the Villans had just finished eighth in the Premier League under John Gregory.
It appears that attacking signings were on the mind, moving into the transfer window, multiple signings came in.
If Ellis had pulled the trigger and signed Ibrahimovic, other signings may have proven unnecessary, but the chairman chose a different route.
Gregory instead brought in Bosko Balaban from Dinamo Zagreb for a fee in the region of £6million, while attacking midfielder Mustapha Hadji also came in from Coventry City for around £3m.
Aston Villa 2001-02 transfers
Villa later moved to sign Peter Crouch in January for a similar fee to Balaban, but never hit the ground running in claret and blue.
This all happened while Ibrahimovic went on to be a true star for Ajax before earning a £10.8m move to Juventus.
And the rest is history…
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