Big Zlats can’t stay out of the
news and it feels like every summer he is the subject of intense transfer speculation. Despite scoring 21 goals, including the winning goal against Real Madrid, it was pretty obvious that he wasn’t wanted at Barcelona before the season even ended. At one stage rumours were suggesting Manchester City were offering him an incredible £500,000 a week (or some other obscene figure) but the more grounded rumour turned up to be the correct one and Sweden’s greatest player now plays for AC Milan.
Having previously played for Juventus and Inter, the move means Zlatan Ibrahimovic will have played for all three of Italy’s biggest clubs. He also follows in the footstep of the legendary Swedish trio Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm (collectively known as Gre-No-Li) who in the 1950s dominated Italian football. When Zlatan won the Serie A top scorer in 2009 he become only the second Swede to do so. The first was Gunnar Nordahl who won it five times in six seasons, so Zlatan has his work cut out for him.
Meanwhile back in Sweden Zlatan’s old club Malmö have overtaken Helsingborg at the top of the Allsvenskan. It would be unfair to accuse Helsingborg of chocking since they’ve only lost one game in their past six, but Malmö are well and truly in the midst of a purple patch. They’ve won their last six games including a 3-0 over third placed Örebro and a 1-0 win over Elfsborg. All this is leading to a classic Skåne derby when Helsingborg go down to Malmö on September 15, which will effectively be a championship play-off.
Down at the other end of the table the relegation battle is wide open. Åtvidaberg and Gelfe sit rock bottom but both are only one win away from pulling out. Gais, in ninth spot, are only three points clear. The season’s overachievers have been sucked back down the table too. Before the summer break Brommapojkarna went as high as fifth and threatened to qualify for Europe. Having only earned one point in their last five matches, they’re now sitting precariously about the drop zone. Mjällby, another unfancied club that have surprised many, have only won one match in their past seven. Their tremendous start to the season means they should be safe, but the competition is so even and clubs so closely bunched together that they are one of the few clubs that are. Even Djurgården in sixth could still feasible go down.