By Chris Wright
Upon its release in 2011, Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s autobiography, Jag Är Zlatan (I Am Zlatan), caused more than a few waves largely by virtue of being exactly the kind of book you’d expect Zlatan to write – namely, 300-odd pages; 150 dedicated to his innate greatness and 150 dedicated to listing the many people he has kicked/wants to kick up the arse.
However, author David Lagercrantz, the man who ghost-wrote Zlatan’s tome, has revealed that all is not quite as it seems – admitting that none of the quotes actually came from Ibrahimovic himself.
Yep. These little gems? They’re all lies.
Speaking at the Hay Literary Festival, Lagercrantz said that rather than quoting him verbatim, he simply attempted to “distil the essence” of Zlatan while piecing together his book.
Lagercrantz first admitted that he’d never read a sporting autobiography until agreeing to ghost-write Zlatan’s, at which point he finally delved into the realm of ghost-written football books.
“I must say I’ve never read such boring books in my whole life,” the Swedish author said.
Staunchly against adding just another hum-drum football book to the groaning pantheon, he instead set out with the intention of finding the “literary Zlatan”.
Lagercrantz’s speech is documented in the Telegraph:
“I worked with [Ibrahimovic] very thoroughly. I just asked him about things I didn’t know. Because all the goals I could see for myself, so I didn’t waste time on goals.”
“I sat with him for 100 hours and that was quite an adventure. I didn’t lie. I didn’t want to make him better or nicer than he was. I said to him from the beginning, ‘You can’t be moral. Just speak out, for God’s sake.’
“I think it really was his true voice. The key thing is that I was not working as a journalist. I was not quoting him. I know this – if you want to find something that sounds true and authentic, the last thing you want to do is quote. I don’t think I have any real quotes from him.
“I tried to get an illusion of him, to try and find the story. I tried to find the literary Ibrahimovic.”
After completing the book and successfully locating the literary Zlatan, Lagercrantz admitted he was still a little nervous when submitting his manuscript for the man himself to leaf through.
“The first thing [Ibrahimovic] said was: “What the f**k is this? I never said this!’ But after a while I think he understood what I was trying to do.
“Nowadays he thinks it’s really his story.”
Well now we don’t know what to believe any more. Is the sky really blue? Does the Earth really orbit the Sun? Perhaps Jaffa Cakes really are biscuits after all?
Suggested further reading…
Top 15 (Entirely Fabricated) Quotes From Zlatan’s Book
40 Of The Crappest Football Autobiographies Ever To Have Existed