‘Exceptional’ Manchester United star a nice guy, but ‘hurt’ club says manager

 

PSG and French football miss Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The Swedish striker was a big draw both domestically and to a greater extent outside of France. Many people would watch PSG matches to see what Ibrahimovic did, and that hasn’t really been replaced.

However, for opposing French clubs and especially defenders, his exit will help them on the pitch. PSG have lost the Ibrahimovic aura, and now they’re just that little bit more beatable, even though it remains a hard task.

Sure, they’ve got brilliant players, but even the likes of Angel Di Maria aren’t expected to have the consistent match winning impact that Ibrahimovic showed over his years in Paris.

PSG face Saint Etienne at the weekend, and L’Equipe have a feature on what it will be like without Ibrahimovic. The now Manchester United striker scored 14 goals in 13 games against Saint Etienne, so he had quite an impact.

Leo Lacroix has only recently joined Saint Etienne, and the defender is quoted as saying: “It must be really incredible to face this exceptional striker. I discussed it with the other defenders and that’s what they told me.’

The club’s manager Christophe Galtier likes Ibrahimovic, but is glad he won’t be playing in the match: “I like meeting Ibra, because it’s very pleasant to chat to the guy himself. The player, on the other hand, hurt us a lot.”