Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic ‘could not shoot’ when he joined Juventus, says Fabio Capello
Former England boss claims responsibility for turning the super Swede into one of Europe's greatest strikers
ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC could not shoot when he signed for Juventus, according to Fabio Capello.
The now-Manchester United striker joined the Old Lady in 2004 from Dutch side Ajax.
Ibrahimovic, 36, won two now-nullified Serie A titles in two years with Juve, and then nine more top division crowns in ten seasons with Inter Milan, AC Milan, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain.
But former England boss Capello - who was in charge of Juve throughout Zlatans’s spell - claims the super Swede owes it all to his early guidance.
The Italian said: "When Ibrahimovic arrived at Juventus, he was not good at shooting.
"Mino Raiola said to me: 'Zlatan is really strong; he breaks goalkeepers' hands'.
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“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.”
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Despite his later achievements, Capello revealed Ibrahimovic cannot match Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldo, who he later worked with at Real Madrid.
Speaking to Sky Italia, Capello said: "The best player I coached was Ronaldo.
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“Unfortunately, I found him at the end of his career when he weighed 96kg.
“I asked him: 'What was your weight at the 2002 World Cup?'. He told me 84. I replied: 'Try at least to go back to 88kg'. Anyway, he was a great player.”