Zlatan Ibrahimovic Back in Milan, Following Footsteps of Childhood Hero

When the boy Zlatan Ibrahimovic would stare up at the poster picturing his greatest idol, dressed in a jersey with black and blue stripes, he had only dream—to run out on the football pitch dressed in that very same jersey.

The hero was Ronaldo, and the team, Inter Milan.

The duo may have started their professional careers in different corners of the world during different times in history, but it wasn’t until they started playing their trade in the Eredivisie that their talent became evident to the top clubs around the continent.

While Ibrahimovic took a detour through Juventus, Ronaldo took his through Barcelona—a club his admirer would come to represent later in his career, during which time they gained international recognition.

However, it wasn’t until the two arrived at Inter Milan (albeit during different times in club’s history) that they became club icons and absolute megastars, one dubbed “Il Fenomeno,” and the other, “Ibracadabra.”

On March 11, 2007, the duo walked out on the pitch of the mighty Giuseppe Meazza side by side for the classic “Derby della Madonnina.” However, it wasn’t as teammates, but as opponents as the young and vibrant Ibrahimovic was about to clash swords with his childhood idol, the old and declining Ronaldo.

Despite possessing all the confidence in the world and then some after climbing to the world’s elite, Ibrahimovic had a hard time taking his eyes off the Brazilian as the two teams stood facing each other.

What was going on in Ibrahimovic’s mind right before the game will remain unknown; nevertheless, his big hero had done the unthinkable, he had swapped the blue stripes on his jersey in favor of red ones.

Would the Swede ever do the same?

While Ronaldo headed for Real Madrid in 2002, Ibrahimovic left for the Brazilian’s former club, Barcelona, in 2009 and kissed the club emblem on his official unveiling in order to capture that eluding Champions League trophy his big hero tragically never got to lay his hands on.

That unfaithful kiss would come back to haunt him when irony decided to take major swipe at the lanky Swede by forcing him to return to his former ground not once, but twice during the tournament.

On top of that, it happened to be his former teammates in those black and blue Nerazzurri jerseys that sent Barcelona packing in the semifinals.

To add insult to injury, his former side ended up winning the entire competition, completing a historic treble triumph by collecting the league title for a fifth consecutive time as well as securing the Coppa Italia—all during the first year after the departure of their megastar.

Despite a rather successful debut season in the Spanish La Liga where the Swede scored 21 goals in 44 games, he came at odds with Barca tactician Josep Guardiola.

With the situation in Catalonia quickly growing unsustainable, the forward opted for a move back to Italy where he will represent none other than AC Milan, where the Sweden international finally hopes to win Europe’s elite competition.

On Monday, Ibrahimovic will undergo his medical before putting pen to paper on a four-year deal which will effectively put him in a jersey with black and red stripes, just like the one his childhood hero wore when they met on the field in that “Derby della Madonnina” back in 2007.

Will the treason be worth a potential Champions League trophy?