Not related and not related by marriage: namesake Arijon Ibrahimovic has no family connection with world star Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Nevertheless, the talent of FC Bayern also has great ambitions and wants to break through into professional football – ideally with the record champions.
Those responsible at Säbener Straße think highly of the 17-year-old midfielder. That’s why Bayern gave the Nuremberg native a professional contract until 2025. Ibrahimovic was also part of the squad for the winter training camp in Doha. “Little Ibra” was also allowed to play there in the test match against RB Salzburg (4:4). In the Bundesliga dress rehearsal, the right foot even put himself on the top scorers list.
Officials are enthusiastic
After the match, sports director Hasan Salihamidzic only had words of praise for the youngster and saw it as confirmation that he had committed the attacking box-to-box player to the club in the long term: “Ari has had an outstanding defensive action next to his goal as he sprints 30, 40 meters back. Seeing that is the basic requirement for becoming a professional footballer.”
Coach Julian Nagelsmann takes the same line: “He did an excellent job, especially in the friendly. I’m glad he signed the new contract. He’s a very down-to-earth player.” To what extent Ibrahimovic will be an option for the Bundesliga squad in the second half of the season is still up in the air. His preferred position is on the ten. There he would compete with Jamal Musiala and Thomas Müller for playing time.
Outstanding stats
In the Bayern U19 team, Ibrahimovic is an absolute top performer. The 1.76 meter tall new professional currently has ten goals and two assists in nine league games, plus three goals and two assists from five appearances in the UEFA Youth League. Ibrahimovic made two appearances for the U23s in the regional league. There the top talent collected two more assists.
The young player is still waiting for his Bundesliga debut. If you look at its development over the past few weeks and months, it should only be a matter of time. Ibrahimovic has been wearing the Bayern jersey since 2018, before that he played for the youth departments of 1. FC Nürnberg and SpVgg Greuther Fürth.
The official Bundesliga website describes Ibrahimovic as follows: “Ibrahimovic is a box-to-box midfielder who likes doing the dirty work on defense as much as he likes to charge forward and support attack. He is compared to Bayern’s hard-working German international Leon Goretzka.” The assessment is absolutely consistent with the impression that Ibrahimovic has left with the professionals so far.
Germany instead of Kosovo
It is obvious that Ibrahimovic is also interesting for the youth national teams due to his promotion. In addition to German citizenship, the jewel also has Kosovar citizenship. So far, however, Ibrahimovic has always played with the eagle on his chest. Ibra has been one of the DFB’s selection teams since the U16s. In 2022 he made six appearances for the U18s, scoring two goals for coach Christian Wörns’ team. Before he plays his first competitive game for the senior national team, he could still switch to Kosovo. A lot of water will flow down the Isar before a final decision is made.
