Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Was His First PSG Season a Success?

Zlatan Ibrahimovic arrived at PSG with the brightest of spotlights focused squarely on him. Being a star of Ibrahimovic's caliber comes with extreme expectation from fans and the media.

Much discussion centered around how far he could take PSG and what individual statistics he would put up. As PSG has closed the deal on their first Ligue 1 title in nearly two decades, we can look back at how Ibra has performed.

Ibrahimovic has spent most of his career recognized as one of the world's best goal scorers. His first season with PSG has done nothing to diminish this view.

With 27 goals in 32 Ligue 1 games (per ESPN FC) Ibra has delivered. He also demonstrated his all-around ability by tallying seven assists.

This may have fell short of some expectations as many felt the Ligue 1 single-season goal record would be in jeopardy. Despite not reaching that lofty plateau, Ibra has put together the best scoring season since Jean-Pierre Papin roamed the fields of Marseille.

Beyond goals, titles and being competitive in Europe were the other expectations Ibrahimovic shouldered. The successful capture of the Ligue 1 title was expected but the performance in the Champions League went above and beyond.

PSG fought their way to a quarterfinal appearance in Europe's prized competition. They proved themselves worthy by falling on away goals to Barcelona.

Many critics will point to Ibrahimovic's statistics to portray him as ineffective or below average during this run. What the statistics cannot communicate is that Ibra was used in different ways in this competition.

In Ligue 1, Ibra played in a more advanced position and looked to be a finisher. In Europe we saw him in a more withdrawn role: holding the ball up and setting up others.

This helped PSG unlock defenses that were geared towards stopping Ibrahimovic. While he may not have had the statistical success in this role, he was very effective in it. PSG would not have advanced as far as they did without his efforts.

Off the field, Ibra has brought even more attention to a project that has been widely covered. His arrival helped show the world that PSG was going to be a legitimate player in Europe.

The always quotable Zlatan also used his gift for gab to make public requests for other players to join him.

Having a charismatic superstar campaigning for the club helps to attract talent. It is hard to say how much Ibrahimovic factored in the decisions of David Beckham or Lucas Moura to join PSG but it is a safe bet that his presence helped secure their signatures.

With another title on his resume, Ibrahimovic has accomplished a great deal during his first year in Paris. With this success comes greater expectation going forward but Ibra would not have it any other way.