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‘Zlatan can have my shirt, if he asks me in French’

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is set to claim his favoured number 9 jersey at his new club PSG on one condition - that he asks for it in French.

'Zlatan can have my shirt, if he asks me in French'

Ibrahimovic has sported the number nine jersey for most of his career since his time at Ajax and is hopeful that he will be given the honour at his new footballing abode.

However the jersey is currently held by strike partner Guillaume Hoarau and according to custom the Frenchman’s consent will be required for Ibrahimovic to take over the prestigious digit.

While 28-year-old Hoarau, who hails from the French island of Réunion, has worn the number nine jersey since signing for PSG in 2008, he is reported to be prepared to surrender it, on one condition.

“If he asks me in French,” Hoarau joked following PSG’s recent friendly match against Chelsea in New York, according to the French radio station RTL.

While Zlatan is multi-lingual having spent most of his professional career outside of his home country of Sweden, he does not yet speak French.

Whether the tall Swede is able to master the language sufficiently enough to meet the condition remains to be seen, but the former Ajax, Juventus, Barcelona, Inter and Milan star appeared hopeful.

“It is not yet decided. I hope that the club afford me the pleasure,” a beaming Ibrahimovic said when he signed for the club last week.

Peter Vinthagen Simpson

Follow Peter on Twitter here.

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FOOTBALL

Zlatan statue loses nose in latest Malmö vandalism

The statue of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in Malmö has suffered its latest damage in a string of attacks by vandals.

Zlatan statue loses nose in latest Malmö vandalism
Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

During Saturday night or in the early hours of Sunday, the nose was sawed off the Zlatan statue and the effigy was also covered in silver paint, media including SVT report.

Since being unveiled in the presence of the world-famous footballer in October, the statue has been damaged on several occasions.

At the end of November, Zlatan announced his investment in rival team Hammarby, angering many fans of his hometown club Malmö FF.

READ ALSO: How Malmö fell out of love with Zlatan Ibrahimovic

December has already seen paint poured over the statue and a foot sawn off, with this weekend’s incident adding to the list of crunching tackles against the Zlatan statue.

Police said on Sunday they would investigate the latest instance of vandalism.

“We have not received any reports but have been informed that damage has been seen by the public. We will go out there and make observations this morning,” Katarina Rusin, a press spokesperson for the police in the southern Sweden region, told SVT.

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