It is secure to say Rafael van der Vaart and Zlatan Ibrahimovic didn’t get on at Ajax.
A lot so, one main fallout led to Ibrahimovic’s switch to Juventus.
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Van der Vaart progressed by means of the Dutch giants’ academy and made his senior debut in 2000 earlier than Ibrahimovic joined from Malmo in his native Sweden a 12 months later.
The duo made 68 appearances and gained two Eredivisie titles collectively at Ajax, however a conflict of egos meant they had been by no means going to be buddies.
Throughout a global pleasant in 2004 between Sweden and the Netherlands, Ibrahimovic fouled Van der Vaart earlier than his aspect scored.
The Dutchman was pressured off with harm and claimed the sort out had strained his ankle ligaments, in addition to accusing it of being deliberate.
MORE ON ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC
“I didn’t injure you on objective and you understand it,” Ibrahimovic stated. “For those who accuse me once more, I’ll break each your legs and this time it’ll be on objective.”
Van der Vaart has now revealed the aftermath of the incident and the way it even triggered his teammate to alter golf equipment.
He joined talkSPORT’s ‘The Lineup’ in partnership with BETMGM on YouTube and was requested what Ibrahimovic was actually like.
“A**gap,” Van der Vaart stated. “We had huge fights. Not a ‘combat’ combat however we could not get alongside.
“He was actually conceited in my standpoint, I had an enormous ego, we had been each younger. We needed to play collectively, that was manageable however there got here some extent that we had a nationwide sport towards Sweden and he kicked me on the ankle.
“It was actually dangerous, you may see it on YouTube, and I used to be mendacity there, crying virtually and I checked out him, and he was my teammate at Ajax. He was simply strolling away and was like [expression as if Ibrahimovic gestured ‘what?’].
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“After the sport, I went mad within the presser, I stated he did it on objective, and I got here within the dressing room and I assumed, ‘Oh s***, do not say it.’ So I known as him, I stated, ‘Pay attention, I am sorry I stated that within the press,’ after which that was completely OK.’
“The subsequent day of coaching, we had like an enormous spherical bit, the entire staff, huge [manager Ronald] Koeman after which unexpectedly, I assumed it was OK after which he went [bang] completely on me, screaming.
“I screamed again, some a part of the staff select him, some half my aspect, after which two days later he left for Juventus as a result of I needed to go away or he [did].”
Neither needed to play with the opposite anymore.
“However he was fortunate that Juventus needed to [sign him] and I used to be fortunate that I might keep for my dream membership,” Van der Vaart added.
Ibrahimovic signed for Juventus from Ajax in August 2004 for £13.3million, scoring 26 targets in 92 appearances for the membership.
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He later performed for golf equipment together with Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United earlier than retiring in 2023 having gained a large number of main honours.
When requested if he spoke to Ibrahimovic once more, Van der Vaart stated: “After that we performed two instances [against each other] however now we’re completely OK.
“Additionally he wrote one thing in his e book about it, this story was actually huge in Holland, there grew to become jokes about it.”
He later added: “I actually hope that I can see him once more as a result of I’ve a lot respect for him.
“We snicker about it as a result of I additionally made actually huge errors, he did, Koeman did, we had been all younger. Massive ego, younger, you suppose you are the most effective on the planet, I used to be considering I used to be the most effective.”
Van der Vaart left his boyhood membership Ajax in 2005 for Hamburg, with later spells coming at Actual Madrid, Tottenham, Actual Betis and Danish sides FC Midtjylland and Esbjerg fB.
The attacking midfielder was additionally a part of the Netherlands aspect that reached the ultimate of the 2010 World Cup.
Watch the most recent episode of The Lineup in full on talkSPORT’s YouTube channel at 4pm in partnership with BETMGM!