Zlatan Ibrahimovic has drawn heavy criticism at his former club Manchester United for their treatment of hero Wayne Rooney on his Old Trafford exit.
Ibrahimovic represented Man United for 20 months and was part of the most recent Red Devils side to win silverware, helping them to the EFL Cup and the Europa League in 2016/17, under the management of Jose Mourinho.
It appears that United did not live up to his standards off the pitch either, as the 40-year-old explains in his new book Adrenaline.
In excerpts released before the launch of his new book 'Adrenaline: My Untold Stories' next year, Ibrahimovic was less than impressed with how the club handled the departure of one of their all-time greats.
The Swede told of how Rooney’s name had come off his locker almost the moment he left, blasting United for their “small club” mentality.
Ibrahimovic described how it was as if the England legend had “never existed”, something that the AC Milan striker clearly felt was inexcusable.
“One thing surprised me: everyone thinks of United as a top club, one of the richest and most powerful in the world and seen from the outside it looked that way to me.”
“But once I was there, I found a small, closed mentality,” the excerpts read.
Ibrahimovic recalls taking a fruit juice from a hotel minibar before a game, before realizing that United had charged him for it.
“One day I was in the hotel with the team before a game. I got thirsty so I opened the mini-bar and had a fruit juice.”
“We played and then went home. Some time went by. My pay slip arrives. Normally I do not look at it. I only do so at the end of the year to see what has come in and what has gone out. But that time, I do not know why, I was curious and realised they had taken a pound off my monthly wage.”
“I called the team manager: ‘Excuse me, why have they taken a pound off my salary.’ The team manager had a look and told me: ‘It was the fruit juice from the mini-bar.’ ‘Are you kidding, seriously?’ ‘No, I’m not. Here, if you order something you have to pay for it.’ ‘Sure, but I didn’t go to the hotel on my own accord. I was not on holiday. It was my workplace. I was there for Manchester. If I have to play and I am thirsty, I have to drink. I can’t go on the pitch dehydrated,’ he stated.