Ibrahimovic was meant to go to Roma, Mido reveals

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s move to Juventus came about at the last minute, with Mido revealing that the striker was instead supposed to sign for Roma.

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Ibrahimovic was transferred from Ajax to the Serie A outfit in 2004 for €16 million, but he was due to sign for one of their rivals, the former Egypt international striker has alleged.

Indeed, the 40-year-old claims it was initially him who was supposed to be Juve bound until a last-minute change of plan.

“In the summer of 2004, Zlatan and I were going to Serie A,” Mido told DMC TV. “We both had the same agent, Mino Raiola, I had an agreement to relocate to Juventus and Ibra was going to Rome

“When I arrived at the airport, Raiola called me and told me that I had to cancel my trip to Turin since Juventus had reached an agreement with Ibra instead and I was going to Roma.”

It proved a fateful decision as Mido flopped in Italy while the Swede attained star status and went on to play for Inter and Milan before later enjoying equal success abroad with Paris Saint-Germain and now Manchester United.

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Mido claims he never got the backing of his coach, unlike Zlatan at the Stadio Delle Alpi.

“Fabio Capello always backed Ibra in his first season and he continued to support him right through to when he played in Serie A, which is different to how things were with me at Roma,” he explained.

The Egyptian is now coaching Wadi Degla in the Egyptian Premier League.