Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Troubled Childhood, Career & Net Worth
Football fans have always proved themselves as the most passionate fans in the entire world. These people treat football like religion and footballers like gods.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of those footballers. His fans have given him titles of a ‘legend’ or ‘god.’ This, of course, is a result of his extraordinary skills and hard work throughout the years.
Zlatan is a Swedish professional footballer who currently plays for the Serie A club AC Milan and Swedish National Football Team. The footballer is considered one of the best strikers of all time.
So who is Zlatan? How is he like off the ground? What are the qualities does he possess that make him a legend? If you want these questions answered, you’re in the right place.
Let’s look at some quick facts about this Swedish footballer and know him closely and personally.
Quick Facts
Full Name | Zlatan Ibrahimovic |
Birth Date | October 3, 1981 |
Birth Place | Malmo, Sweden |
Residence | Milan, Italy |
Nick Name | Ibra, Ibracadabra |
Religion | Christian |
Nationality | Swedish, Bosnian |
Ethnicity | Swedish |
Position | Striker |
Food Habit | Non-vegetarian |
Education | Malmo Borgarskola |
Zodiac Sign | Libra |
Father’s Name | Sefik Ibrahimovic |
Mother’s Name | Jurka Gravic |
Siblings | Sapko Ibrahimovic, Aleksander Ibrahimovic (Brothers) Salena Ibrahimovic, Violeta Ibrahimovic, Monika Ibrahimovic (Sisters) |
Age | [calculate_years datestring=”10/03/1981″] Years Old |
Height | 6 feet 5 inches |
Jersey Number | 11 |
Weight | 85 kg / 187 pounds |
Eye Color | Brown |
Hair Color | Brown |
Body type | Lean |
Profession | Footballer |
Associated Teams | AC Milan, Swedish National Football Team |
Individual Awards and Nominations | FIFA Puskas Award (2013) FIFA Ballon d’Or 2013 (Nominated) |
Marital Status | Married |
Wife’s Name | Helena Segar |
Active Years |
1999- Present |
Children | 2: Maximilian Ibrahimovic, Vincent Ibrahimovic |
Net Worth | 190 million dollars |
Social Media | Instagram, Twitter, Facebook |
Website | zlatanibrahimovic.com |
Merch | Becoming Zlatan, Signed Jersey, I Am Zlatan |
Last Update | [current-month], [current-year] |
Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Height, Weight, and Body Measurements
Zlata has a height that can easily tower over anyone. He stands 6 ft 5 inches tall and weighs 85 kg (187 pounds).
His build is athletic. He works out regularly, thus has a stunning body and measurements.
Talking about his vital statistics, his chest is about 42.5 inches or 108 cms. His biceps measure around 15.25 inches or 39 cms, and his waist measures around 35.5 inches or 90 cms.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Early Life, Parents, and Siblings
Zlatan’s family
Ibra was born on October 3, 1981, to father Sefik Ibrahimovic and mother Jurka Gravic. Zlatan is mixed, as his father is a Muslim with Bosnian background.
Likewise, mother Jurka is a devoted Catholic and is of Albanian and Croatian descent. Both of his parents migrated to Sweden from their respective countries, where they first met.
However, they divorced after some time.
Zlatan has two brothers, Sapko and Aleksander Ibrahimovic. His brother Sapko died of an illness in 2014. Likewise, he has three sisters, Sanela, Violeta, and Monika.
Difficult Childhood
As immigrants with a large family, Zlatan’s family was not rich enough to afford luxuries. He had quite a difficult childhood.
As a child, when Zlatan made mistakes, his mother would hit him on the head with wooden spoons and break them. She would also steal goods which eventually led social services to intervene.
One of his sisters developed a drug addiction, and his mother was unable to cope with it. Thus, he was sent to live with his father at the age of nine.
Unfortunately enough, his father himself had an alcohol addiction and would spend all his money on alcohol instead of food.
Gradually, this led Zlatan to steal bikes and shoplift. Some days, he even ran to his mother for food.
Love for Football
He got his first football boot when he was six, and he has been loving and playing football ever since.
As the situation in the home was tough, Zlatan even contemplated if he should leave football and work at a local restaurant to help his family.
However, his passion always pursued him to follow his dreams. He started with the local teams, and the kids would pick up on him and bring up his economic condition.
Zlatan was tough and always had the ‘I’ll make it, wait and watch’ mentality. So, he practiced hard and never gave up.
Thus, he played for many local teams, including FBK Balkan, Malmö BI, and BK Flagg, and Malmo FF. Zlatan looked up to Brazilian star Ronaldo and Argentine player Gabriel Batistuta as a young boy.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Relationships, Wife, and Kids
Wife: Helena Seger
Zlatan is currently married to Swedish model and actress Helena Seger. Helena was born on 25th August of 1970, in the Swedish city of Lindesberg.
This lovely couple has an age gap of over 11 years. Helena Seger is [calculate_years datestring=”08/25/1970″] Years Old. Likewise, she stands only 5 feet 5 inches, stunningly a foot shorter than her husband.
Helena always has a sales and commercial background. She has worked for several companies such as Bonner, Corona, and Hooch, Diesel, Malaco Leaf, Slakthuset, Austria Tabak, etc.
Thus, she met Zlatan as she was working for commercial airplane FlyMe in 2002. The couple met at a parking lot as Zlatan parked his Ferrari beside Helena’s car.
They had a brief argument thereafter, and Helena ordered Zlatan to move his car. Thus, this couple has had an enemies-to-friends kind of love story.
Kids
This lovely couple has two sons together; Maximilian Ibrahimovic and Vincent Ibrahimovic. The little boys are really adorable and share an amazing relationship with their parents.
Maximilian is the older among the two, and he was born in 2006.
Likewise, Vincent Ibrahimovic is Zlatan and Helena’s younger child. Vincent was born in 2008.
In an interview, Zlatan revealed that the kids are quite close and attached to him and even cry when Zlatan leaves home.
The kids also have followed in their father’s footsteps. Their skills and talents show that they are destined to be footballers one day.
An adorable video captured Zlatan and his boys on the football pitch. The boys are seen playing football with their father and learning skills from him.
Dating and Affairs
There have been several rumors about Zlatan cheating on his wife.
In 2020. there were rumors of Zlatan having a secret affair with an Italian journalist Delita Liotta. This duo was seen leaving a restaurant in Milan.
However, Liotta completely denied these rumors and claimed that they were only professional buddies and had to meet up at a restaurant for work.
Zlatan has always been loyal, but his name has been linked to various models before Helena.
He dated Erika Johnson and was also engaged to Maria Ohlange for eight months.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Career
Club Career
Zlatan started his club career at FC Malmo in 1996 and is currently playing from AC Milan.
FC Malmo
Ibrahimovic joined the club in 1996 and moved to the senior team for the 1999 season of Allsvenskan, the Swedish top league.
He spent about two years in the senior team and was transferred to the Dutch club Ajax for about 8.7 million euros.
Ajax
Ajax’s coach Ronald Koeman kept Zlatan in the starting XI in the 2001-2002 season. The same year, Ibra contributed to Ajax’s Eredivisie title victory.
Likewise, Zlatan made his Champions League debut from Ajax against Lyon and scored two goals. These goals gave Ajax a 2-1 victory over the French champions.
Furthermore, Zlatan’s goal against NAC Breda awarded Zlatan with ‘Goal of the Year’ in 2004. Ibra dribbled past five opposing players to score this goal, making it the most spectacular goal of the year.
Juventus
Ibrahimovic moved to Juventus from Ajax for 16 million euros. He made his place in the starting 11 and scored 16 goals in the first season.
His goals contributed to making Juventus the series A champions, and the club even made it to the quarter-finals of the Champion League.
The same year, Juventus reportedly rejected a 70 million euros bid from Real Madrid.
However, this was revealed to be a publicity stunt initiated by Ibra’s agent to increase his market value.
This, however, did not stop Zlatan from being named Serie, A Foreign Footballer of the Year.
Likewise, he was also awarded the ‘Guldbollen,’ the best Swedish footballer of the Year.
Zlatan’s performance was poor in the following 2005-2006 season, which made Juventus fans upset. In the same season, Juventus also relegated to Serie B.
Therefore, Zlatan left the club and moved to InterMilan for 24.8 million euros.
Inter Milan
He moved to Inter Milan in 2006 and made his debut game against Roma. While in Inter, Zlatan celebrated his 100th Serie A game in 2007.
Likewise, he extended his contract until 2013, making him the World’s highest-paid footballer. However, he did not continue with the club after 2009.
Zlatan’s most memorable season was the 2008-2009 season when he ended up as the league’s top goalscorer with 25 goals.
Barcelona
Zlatan moved to Barcelona from the 2009-2010 season for 59 million euros.
His most memorable season with Barcelona was when the club ended off as the FIFA Club World Cup 2009 winner.
Loan to AC Milan
Zlatan was transferred to Milan on loan for the 2010-2011 season. In the first match, he, however, missed a penalty, gathering criticism from fans.
To compensate, Zlatan scored 28 goals in 32 matches for the 2011-2012 season, which awarded him the Season’s Top Scorer.
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG)
Zlatan moved to PSG for the 2012-2013 season for a transfer fee of 20 million euros. His time in PSG was not quite a memorable one.
However, Zlatan played his 100th Champions League match from PSG in the 2013-2014 season. He was also named League 1’s Player of the Year for two consecutive years.
Likewise, in the 2015-2016 season, he became Paris Saint-Germain’s all-time leading goalscorer with 110 goals in all official competitions.
Manchester United
On 1 July 2016, Zlatan signed with English club Manchester United, making a 200,000 euros per week salary deal.
Ibra won his first Europa League title from Manchester United and was also included in the UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season in the 2016-2017 season.
In the 2017-2018 season, Zlatan was given United’s number 10 Jersey as well.
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LA Galaxy
In 2018, Ibra signed for Major League Soccer team LA Galaxy. In his first match, Zlatan scored two impressive goals against Los Angeles FC that won the hearts of the fans.
Ahead of the 2019 season, Zlatan was named the team captain and led his team to the 2019 MLS Cup Playoffs.
On 13 November 2019, Zlatan announced that he was leaving LA Galaxy through Twitter and thanked his amazing fans and supporters.
Return to Milan
Ibrahimovic returned to AC Milan in December 2019. On 15 July 2020, he made his 100th appearance from the club with a 3-1 victor against Parma.
Likewise, the striker became the first player to score 50 Serie A goals for the club on 29 July 2020.
On February 7, 2021, he scored 500th and 501st club career goals. On 22nd April, he signed a new contract with the team.
National Team Career
Zlatan debuted for Swedish National Team in 1999 from the U-18 team.
Moreover, he was eligible to play from Sweden, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, or Croatia and chose Sweden.
For Swedish National Team, Zlatan has appeared in the 2002 FIFA World cup, UEFA Euro 2004, 2006 FIFA World cup, UEFA Euro 2008, 2010 World Cup Qualifiers, UEFA Euro 2012, 2014 World Cup Qualifiers, and UEFA Euro 2016.
The striker has scored more than 50 international goals for his national team.
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Net Worth and Salary
As one of the best strikers, Zlatan has made millions of fortunes.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s net worth is $190 million, and his salary is $35 million.
He makes his earnings from various deals and endorsements, as well as sponsorships.
Zlatan is the owner of a whopping 10,000 sq. ft Italian residence whose price is no less than some million dollars.
Likewise, he owns a mansion in Manchester that cost him over 6 million dollars.
He also owns properties in Sweden.
Moreover, he is a car fanatic and has a huge collection of cars. He owns cars like Ferrari Enzo, Lamborghini Gallardo, Audi s8, Maserati GranTurismo, Volvo C30 TS, etc.
Similarly, he regularly goes on vacations with his family and friends on luxurious yacht and private planes.
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Social Media
Zlatan has a huge fan following over his social media platforms.
On Twitter, Zlatan has over 7.4 million followers and regularly interacts with fans. Moreover, he joined the platform in 2012.
He also has an official Facebook page which has gathered over 34 million followers.
On Instagram, Zlatan has over 47 million active followers.
He is regularly seen on vacations, sometimes horse riding and sometimes jumping into the sea. He posts it all on the gram.
FAQs
Why did Zlatan Ibrahimovic leave Manchester United?
Zlatan reportedly left United following his knee injury. He explained he had to leave the club to feel comfortable.
Is Zlatan Ibrahimovic retired?
Zlatan is still active in club football; however, he has retired from international games.
Where does Zlatan Ibrahimovic rank all time?
Based on goals scored, Zlatan ranks 25th in the world. He has so far scored 512 goals in 884 games.