Former Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimović has defended the Glazers in his recent exclusive interview with Piers Morgan.
The 42-year-old retired from professional football back in June but is considered to be one of the best strikers of all time and remains a global sporting icon, so naturally when the controversial journalist and former Good Morning Britain host had the opportunity to speak with him, he didn’t pass it up.
During a nearly two-hour conversation, the pair discussed everything from Zlatan’s decorated career and recent retirement to Saudi Arabia, his fraught relationship with current Manchester City and ex-Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola, his time at Old Trafford and much more.
When it came to the subject of Man United and how Erik ten Hag is faring at present, Piers pressed the ex-Swedish international on what he made of the club during his time there and why things aren’t going so well at the moment.
"I think it's a little bit wrong saying that they are not doing what the fans expect them to do."
— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) October 5, 2023
Zlatan has his say on the Glazers.
In contrast to his fellow former United star Cristiano Ronaldo, who famously said that he believes the Glazers “don’t care” about the club and the fans, Zlatan argued the other side somewhat.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I think now in, I don’t know, there are some kind of demonstrations about the owners to sell it and that, but just a reminder, the owners are investing”, says Ibra.
He continued by insisting, “It’s not like they are not investing because they brought in many players for a high amount of money, so I think it’s a little bit wrong saying that they are not doing what the fans expect them to do… I don’t know what the real reason is behind everything.”
ADVERTISEMENT
As for the coach, with whom he shared a connection as both spent formative years at Ajax, despite Morgan suggesting that the Dutchman may be “out of his depth”, Zlatan argued that he “needs time” to get used to a different situation — time being a commodity not many are afforded in the Premier League.
Extrapolating from his own time there where he claims everyone was too focused on “what Fergie would have done”, he did note that there was a leadership gap between the manager and the people above him, going on to suggest that this is still part of the problem for ten Hag‘s team.
While it was clear he had lots of time and respect for the likes of ten Hag and his long-time coach Jose Mourinho — the man who was also responsible for bringing him to Manchester — the footballing veteran had much less glowing things to say about Guardiola.
ADVERTISEMENT
Recounting a period when he had been benched by the Catalan coach, the big number nine explained how he ended up arriving at training in a Ferrari knowing full well it would cause a “situation” and that their issues soon became personal rather than professional.
New Amazon Prime Video docuseries to show Pep Guardiola’s final seasons at Manchester City
Emily Sergeant
A new all-access docuseries featuring Pep Guardiola’s final few seasons at Manchester City is set to air this summer.
Coming exclusively to Prime Video in the UK and Ireland, the four-part documentary is set to take Manchester City fans and neutral viewers alike inside the club as the players and manager – who delivered an era of dominance -make way for a new generation.
Filmed over the past two seasons, this is the ultimate account of an emotional farewell that marks the end of an era in English football, and will offer unfiltered access to Guardiola, his squad, and the City boardroom.
After 10 trophy-filled years – which included six Premier League titles, the UEFA Champions League, three FA Cups, and five EFL Cups – Pep Guardiola called time on his tenure in Manchester last month, alongside fan favourite players Bernardo Silva and John Stones, as well as Kevin De Bruyne the season prior.
This new docuseries was there to follow them every step of the process.
Fans can follow City from a disappointing 2024/25 campaign right through to a domestic double the following season, charting the raw emotion of a squad in transition.
The series is directed by Academy and BAFTA award-winning filmmaker, Kevin Macdonald, alongside City Studios’ John De Caux, and is produced by Kevin Macdonald for Plan B/KM Films and Gavin Johnson and Ged Doherty for City Studios.
“This is the ultimate account of an emotional farewell that marks the end of an era in English football,” Amazon Prime Video said in a statement.
Joining Prime Video’s wide selection of sports programming, the series will be available to watch at no additional cost to Prime members this summer.
It’ll be ready to stream on 19 August.
Featured Image – Prime Video
Sport
Here’s our petition for ‘Wonderwall’ to become England’s new football anthem
Danny Jones
All things considered, England have made a great start to the 2026 World Cup, pitching themselves as one of the great entertainers this tournament, and the scenes of the supporters and players alike serenading an entire stadium with ‘Wonderwall’ after the full-time whistle gave us chills.
So why not time for a change?
After all, that feels a lot like what this World Cup squad is about: a new manager, new teammates, not clinging to the previous ways of playing – and perhaps it’s time to put ‘Sweet Caroline’ to one side.
Now, we’re by no means saying that we’re ‘done’ with the Neil Diamond anthem that has been reborn as a Three Lions anthem, but look at how good it was watching England belting out Oasis with the fans.
“Today is gonna be the day that England beat Croatia 4-2”, as BBC’s Match of the Day cleverly quipped.
Obviously, we’re biased as Mancs, but we also think there’s something special about having that particular track feel so good to hear again.
As much as we love Oasis, for a long time, it felt like we couldn’t enjoy arguably their biggest-ever single anywhere near as much as we once did.
We assume it’s something akin to hearing ‘Mr Brightside’ non-stop for what felt like millennia, and in truth, hearing those repetitions of “ba, ba, ba… SO GOOD, SO GOOD!” over and over again at sporting fixtures beyond just national team games has taken the magic out of it at times.
Perhaps it’s just a case of saturation in certain settings and songs simply being overplayed – FIFA’s co-hosts over in the US certainly helped see to that when it came to ‘Wonderwall’ for a long time.
On the other hand, it feels like we’ve now come full circle; singing those famous lyrics at the top of our lungs in a sea of Mancs and fans travelling from all over to Heaton Park for Live ’25 last year felt better than ever, and like we’d all remembered how great a tune it’s always been. So did this…
In fact, this felt so emotional that you’ve got people who aren’t even English praising both those on the pitch and up in the stands for the moment online.
Even the admittedly rather American Man vs Food himself, Adam Richman (though he does have British ancestry), felt compelled to write a moving response on social media: “Shut up. You’re the one that’s crying. Bravo, England.”
He’s far from the only one who was left bowled over by the atmosphere – us included.
What do you think? Is it time for a new go-to tournament anthem for the Three Lions moving forward?