I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Four stars instead of five are given because of the translation. I originally read this book when it was translated into English by a Swedish fan who had a vast knowledge of the football world, Zlatan, and the English language. This "official" English translation is obviously written by a Brit and it loses some of the flair of how Zlatan talks (can you imagine Zlatan referring to other men as "blokes"???).The book itself is brilliant. It's one of the best autobiographies I've ever read, and a MUST-READ for every Ibrahimovic fan. It reads like Zlatan talks, but unlike most of his interviews, the book gives details about and insight into what really happened during various stages in his career. Most fascinating to me were the details of minute-by-minute negotiations during various transfers and Zlatan's opinions about his many coaches. Equally intriguing is Zlatan's descriptions of some of his key matches, best goals and dealings with National team members.Seriously, if you are an Ibrahimovic fan, you have to buy this book. If you hate Ibrahimovic, you have to buy this book. And if you care at all about football (aka: soccer), you have to buy this book. In sum, you have to buy this book.Update 10/26/13: Several people have responded to my comment, asking where they can get my translated version of the book. The translation I originally read was simply a communication from one fan to another, after I had some friends in Sweden purchase the book (they had to go to 10 different book stores to find it!) for me and bring it back to the US. I probably should never have mentioned it. I also purchased the ipad app of the book, which is, I think, the same as this "new" English-language version of the book but without the interactive features of the app. Again, I have not yet purchased this new version of the book.If I had never read my Swedish friend's translation, I would have given this book 5 stars. It truly is a brilliant read, whether or not you are a Zlatan fan or even a football fan. It's an interesting, funny and REAL look into the evolution of a modern sports hero. It's been short-listed for the William Hill sports book of the year award!I've been reading other football books lately, and if you're interested in a laugh-out-loud satire of English football, check out Terry Ravenscroft's "Football Crazy." It's absolutely hilarious! If you're an Amazon Prime member, I think you can even rent this book for free in the lender library.

I got this book about 12 hours ago and read and finished it in about 8 hours to the exclusion of everything else. Yes it's an interesting, compelling inside-view on the business of modern football and what it takes to be an outlier that makes it in that world.Unlike many reviewers of the book so far, I can't claim to be a Zlatan über-fan. Obviously I know well who he is being a huge fan of European football and I also know well about the drama and controversy that surrounds him. However, I chose this book because of all the hype about all the excerpts that have been re-emerging with the recent publication of this English translation (vs the sensational excerpt translations we got a couple of years ago when the book first came out). I got this book wanting an inside view of Z's Barca years as well as his controversial behavior throughout the years.What I can say is that he is who he is. Il ne regrette rien, as they say. His attitude to past misdeeds is more "yeah I could have handled that better but it's not that big a deal." As for rules, nice guys who play by the book are forgotten. In any case, like him or loathe him, you have to admire his self-belief in pulling himself up from his circumstances and believing in himself through many of his self-inflicted conflicts with authority. This book also provided a good exposé about the characters of people behind the scenes in the clubs he's played in and against as well as how dirty and underhanded the business of football is.This book is interesting and fast-paced with a narrative style that is easy and fun to read even when he's reliving football matches. Have no fear of disappointment because this also happens to read like a Disney sports movie where every difficult and controversial season is capped with a trophy. But this is the fact of this great legend's life. He's told his story unapologetically in a way that is only to be expected from Zlatan.

For the people upset about Zlatan being pretentious/self-absorbed--do you all know NOTHING about soccer? Nothing about Zlatan? The first thing anyone would know about Zlatan is that he is absolutely insane, completely narcissistic, and somehow, still brilliant. Why did you purchase/read this book?I am from Malmö and Zlatan got started at my hometown club. I have essentially worshiped him my entire life, and perhaps that connection is what resonated with me. I actually cried a little when he spoke about his return to Malmö/Rosengård. It was nice to see he does have some appreciation for how he is idolized by his fans, some acknowledgement.Yeah, the translation is bad, I would like to read it in Swedish instead. But this is such a unique glimpse into his mind. I absolutely loved the book and would recommend it to everyone who cares about soccer who won't be offended by his arrogance, as many of the reviewers apparently were...

Just finished reading the book and wondered to give it 3 or 4 stars. I agree totally that there are way better biographies and soccer books written, but at the same time this is not bad either.After finishing Agassi's Open, this is a fall back in quality, but the personality of the player comes through as well as much information about the soccer / football world. I do suggest this book to be read, however be sceptic and bear in mind, that there are always two sides of coins. In this book we get to know one side of it.Personally I did like to read the book and would recommend it to others who are interested in sports and biographies. How ever, it is no the best book, thus the 3/4 stars.

Genuinely one of the greatest autobiographies you'll ever read. It is about 330 pages and I finished it in 4 sittings, I was that captivated by his story. It reads very easily and has a British-style language, using words like "blimey" and "bloody".For those who think he is this big ego, you soon become to see that it's just a persona Zlatan developed, that he is indeed a nice guy that just has a fighting, free spirit.What you take away from this story is you may have had a childhood lacking in physical items (foods, nice clothes, etc.) but a determination to find and follow your joys can lead to great things. Zlatan led his life his way, he was always true to himself, even in situations when most would have yielded and skulked out of the door with their head down and shoulders hunched. He went against the status quo because he had a belief in his own abilities.That in itself is the overriding theme I took from this book. As he says - Listen; Don't Listen. Believe in yourself.

Zlatan the man with the giant ego but maybe with every right to be. The book is an easy read and you cannot stop yourself chuckling along with his arrogant and playful way he portrays. I feel that before I bought this book I already liked Zlatan but his somewhat no nonsense approach has further endeared me to him.I feel that sometimes he does over act the tough guy routine and the book it self flows seamlessly but seems to lack significant depth in exploring Zlatan's deeper qualities or weaknesses.However I feel this book should appeal to a wider audience, not just the football fan. Zlatan is a winner because of his efforts and desire.

Excellent value. Ibrahimovic deserves a lot of credit for his brutal honesty. Criticising Pep Guardiola makes him seem like the guy who shot Bambi, but Zlatan explains his alienation in Barcelona by "The Philosopher" both in the opening chapter and again later in the book. He also explains how his upbringing in a rougher neighbourhood of Malmo inspired his against the odds winner's mentality. My only criticism is that the translation from Swedish to English could probably be better, and in particular some of the football terminology seems incorrect. A fascinating insight into a footballer who has won the league in Holland, Italy, Spain and France. Unlike any British or English player.

Absolute muck, boring, repetitive narcissistic garbage which is poorly translated and written. Book is totally unstructured and just seems like various ramblings. All round very unlikeable player and person. Got two thirds of the way through and promised myself if I had to read one more time about how much of a hard man himself and his mates were this very poor vanity project would be binned, and that’s where it is and belongs. Total muck.

The man certainly has an ego which you either love or hate. Whichever way you swing on that debate, there can be no denying that this a thoroughly entertaining book and far from the norm of these bland footballers bio's. Usually I do not touch current players books as they are void of anything interesting or controversy but this packs it all. Was very interesting to get an insight into his time spent at Barcelona and the fallout with Pep. A brilliant, fun read that any football fan will surely enjoy.