The Allsvenskan side Hammarby Fotball on Wednesday have announced that Zlatan Ibrahimovic has become part-owner of the club.
“Hammarby is a fantastic club with passionate supporters and has great respect in both Stockholm and Sweden,” Ibrahimovic was quoted as saying by ESPN, after he purchased a quarter of the club shares.
Zlatan Ibrahimović investerar i AEG Sweden och blir delägare i Hammarby Fotboll AB. Läs mer här: https://t.co/JmFKS5dYuW@Ibra_official #Bajen pic.twitter.com/e1nyew3oaS
— Hammarby Fotboll (@Hammarbyfotboll) November 27, 2019
“I have always liked the club and the fans. I am impressed with what the club has done in recent years, both on and off the pitch. Being able to join and develop Hammarby forward feels both fun and exciting,” he added further.
A report carried by Aftonbladet, a Spanish news outlet confirms that The American Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) previously had close to half of the shares of the company.
It is worth highlighting that the AEG also owns Major League Soccer (MLS) club LA Galaxy where Zlatan Ibrahimovic played in the previous season. Now, Zlatan has purchased almost half of AEG’share in Hammarby and has thus become a owner of close to 25% of the club’s total shares.
“I’ve played in LA Galaxy and hence had a good relationship with the people from AEG. Then I got this opportunity to become a partner with AEG and such an opportunity is impossible to refuse. Not for people who are so successful in business. In addition, I was already linked to Sweden. So it happened,” the 38-year-old stated as quoted by Aftonbladet.
“To get a person like Zlatan into the club, with the passion and winning mentality he stands for, feels right,” Hammarby chairman Richard von Yxkull said.
“It is too early to say anything in detail about how Zlatan can contribute to Hammarby, but there is clearly very great potential in the collaboration,” he added.
Earlier, the free-agent had posted a video on his social media handle where an animated shirt of Swedish club Hammarby appeared with Ibrahimovic’s name on the back and thus it was being speculated that he could play for the Swedish club.