Ajax sold Ibrahimovic to Juventus because of Mido – Capello
Fabio Capello has revealed that Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam sold Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Juventus ecause of their believe in Ahmed Hossam Hussein Abdelhamid popularly known as Mido.
The two tall strikers were in the book of Ajax at a time before Zlatan Ibrahimovic joined Fabio Capello at Juventus in 204 where he spent two seasons before moving to Inter following the Calciopoli scandal.
Capello who was the headcoach of Juventus during Ibrahimovic two yearsvstay at Turin also revealed that Ibrahimovic had to work on his shots as he was terrible at it when he arrived from Ajax for a relatively modest fee of €16million.
“When Ibrahimovic arrived at Juventus, he was not good at shooting,” Capello told Sky.
“[Agent] Mino Raiola said to me: ‘Zlatan is really strong; he breaks goalkeepers’ hands’. I said to him: ‘Listen to me: so far, he’s only broken the windows of the gym!’
“Then Ibrahimovic began to train every day to kick and, obviously, as everyone knows, he improved a lot.
“I targeted Ibrahimovic when I was Roma coach. Juventus made an incredible purchase: they bought him for €16million, payable in four payments.
“At Ajax, they decided he would not be a great player. They preferred to keep Mido, who was easier to manage.”
15 – At 35y 125d, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the oldest player to reach 15 @premierleague goals in a single season. Vintage. pic.twitter.com/CV68bl0J3X
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 5, 2017
Capello left Juve in 2006 for a second spell in charge of Real Madrid and won the LaLiga title in 2006-07.
The 71-year-old, now at Jiangsu Suning in the Chinese Super League, says former Brazil star Ronaldo is the best player he has ever coached in his storied career, but regrets having only worked with him towards the end of his playing days.
“The best player I coached was Ronaldo,” he said. “Unfortunately, I found him at the end of his career, when he weighed 96 kilograms.
“I asked him ‘What was your weight at the 2002 World Cup?’. He told me it was 84 kilos. I replied: ‘Try at least to go back to 88’. Anyway, he was a great player.”
