Ex-teammate Anders Svensson brands Zlatan Ibrahimovic a "complete idiot"

By Daniel Lewis, Senior ReporterPublished: 15 March 2017 2:29 PM

Former Sweden international midfielder Anders Svensson accuses Zlatan Ibrahimovic of being overly ruthless when it comes to dealing with younger players.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a "complete idiot" who does not treat younger players with respect, according to former Sweden international teammate Anders Svensson.

The ex-Elfsborg and Southampton midfielder spent 12 years with Ibrahimovic in the national side, sharing captaincy duties with the now-Manchester United ace.

Ibrahimovic has made an instant impression at Old Trafford in his first campaign in English football, gaining a reputation for being the ultimate professional, but Svensson has accused the country's leading all-time scorer of being overly ruthless at times.

"He can be as enjoyable one minute, and in the next second he'll be a complete idiot," he is quoted as saying by the Manchester Evening News. "Occasionally he has behaved so badly with some players that you wondered what actually happened.

"I think he wants to test new players. It's like he wants to break them down to see what they can do. But I can not say I believe in that model. There has never been something between him and me, I think he always had some sort of respect for us who are a little older."

Ibrahimovic, who retired from international football after last year's European Championship finals, has scored 26 goals in 40 appearances for United.