At the age of 41, the Swedish legend has now taken his shoes off.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic played with some of the greatest football players in history throughout the course of his career, and Chelsea’s Thiago Silva ranks among his best teammates.
What’s the story?
Ibrahimovic and Silva actually played on the same field together 195 times throughout their time at AC Milan and PSG, averaging an astounding 2.18 points per game.
Along with the Swede, only Maxwell has made more appearances (325 total).
Ibrahimovic has now put Silva next to Alessandro Nesta in his XI of the finest teammates, which you can see below. It is apparent that the Swedish player appreciated having Silva oversee the defensive while he concentrated on scoring goals.
Asking Zlatan Ibrahimovic for his ideal team of teammates
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was asked for his best squad of teammates 🤝
Imagine some of these throwback names in their prime together!🤯#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/IFHcmij8Za
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 7, 2023
Before leaving at the same time to join PSG in 2012, Ibrahimovic and Silva won the Serie A championship and the Supercoppa Italiana together in the 2010–11 season.
Along with the South American, the 41-year-old went on to win three Trophée des Champions, two Coupe de France victories, three Coupe de la Ligue triumphs, and four Ligue 1 championships.
The fact that Ibrahimovic praised Thiago Silva says a lot.
Just take a look at the players Silva is paired with in Ibrahimovic’s starting lineup.
The fact that the £96,000-per-week Chelsea player is discussed in the same sentence with players like Lionel Messi, Pavel Nedved, Patrick Vieira, Xavi, Ronaldinho, and Lillian Thuram says a lot about how good they were.
Outside of Chelsea, few people genuinely recognise how talented the 38-year-old is.
We think Silva will start to finally get the respect he deserves from the footballing community once he eventually quits from the game like Ibrahimovic.