Zlatan Ibrahimovic has said he plans to finish his career at Paris Saint-Germain and believes that the Ligue 1 holders can win this season’s Champions League. The 32-year-old has two years remaining on his current PSG deal and admitted that he is unlikely to continue beyond that.
“I have a contract until 2016,” he said in an interview with ESPN. “I will be 34 next season and I don’t see myself continuing to play at the top level after that.”
The Sweden striker is determined to win the Champions League before then, however, and is confident that PSG, who have added David Luiz to their squad from Chelsea, are well placed to do so this season.
Only one French club has won the Champions League, Marseille in 1992-93, but Ibrahimovic said PSG’s experience may be a big factor.
“I think we can win it,” he said. “We have a good opportunity. This team is made to play in good tournaments. You need to work hard and to have a bit of luck with you. In the key moments you need to have the small details on your side. I think we have that in our team now. We have more experience too, especially after last season. So we can do it.”
Ibrahimovic has won league titles in four countries but the biggest club competition of all has eluded him. But he rejected suggestions that it has become an obsession. “No, it’s not because, if it becomes an obsession for you, it feels that you have not reached what you wanted in your career.
“I have achieved what I wanted in my career, 100%. I have won 23 titles. I have given my best and done everything I could through my career to win as many trophies as possible. Of course it would be nice to win the Champions League and I feel I can and will win it. But if my career finishes without it, I would still be happy and proud.”
He also played down the importance of winning the Ballon d’Or, saying that the coveted award is too politicised but remains confident that he will be held in high esteem when he retires.
“I think it’s not only about who is the best,” he said. “I think there is a lot of politics around it, the good boy-bad boy thing and all of that. For me what’s important is what I think and what people around me think. What the judges [of the Ballon d’Or] think is not important for me.
“I am sure people will remember those goals for a long time and that’s what you want as a player,” he said. “Not all the players will be like that. Everybody tries to score a great goal and I am lucky I have netted a few.”
