Former Arsenal star Paul Merson has insisted that Arsene Wenger would never sign Paris Saint-Germain forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The French tactician distanced himself from making a move for the Swedish international in his press conference this week, as reported by BBC Sport, with Ibrahimovic set to leave Paris this summer with his current deal set to expire.
Although a renewal is possible, reports have claimed that there is interest from around the world in the 34-year-old but Wenger didn’t appear to be keen on the idea.
Merson believes that Ibrahimovic is not a player that the Frenchman would ever sign, but is adamant that he needs to be a bit more clever with rumours in order to keep the club’s supporters happy.
“He’s got to play the game with the fans sometimes,” Merson told Soccer Saturday. “He gets asked about Zlatan Ibrahimovic. All you have to do is turn around and say ‘I’d love to get him, if he wants to come to London I want him’ – and the fans would be happy. If you don’t get him, then you don’t get him – but don’t say ‘oh, I’m not sure’.”
“Ibrahimovic is a winner. He’s won 13 trophies in so many leagues. Of course, Wenger isn’t going to sign him because he’s going to question him.
“He doesn’t want someone sitting in the dressing room questioning him. He doesn’t want people to come in after the game and start tearing it up. He just wants people to come in and recover.”
Whatever the reasons behind Wenger’s likely snub for the former AC Milan and Barcelona star, it doesn’t look likely that they will be working together next season.
As the Gunners boss continues to try and salvage something from this season with the Premier League title the only available silverware to them, further failure this year should ultimately see him question whether or not he is still the right man for the job.
For all the excellent work that the veteran tactician has done for the north London outfit, there has been growing discontent among the supporters for some time, with back-to-back FA Cup wins not enough. Given the circumstances this year which presented Arsenal with a perfect opportunity to win the league, falling short could be enough to see Wenger step aside.