How many different clubs did Zlatan Ibrahimovic play for?

At the time of writing, in early June, 2023, Swedish former striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has recently announced his retirement from football, at the age of 41. Bidding farewell to AC Milan fans at the San Siro Stadium for the second time, he said, ‘I say goodbye to football, but not you’, adding, ‘The first time I came here you gave me happiness, the second time you gave me love.’ Aside from the Rossoneri (Italian for ‘Red and Blacks’), for whom he signed twice, at the end of the 2010/11 season and, again, in December, 2019, Ibrahimovic played for eight other different clubs, making a total of nine in all.

Born in Malmö, Sweden, to émigré parents, on October 3, 1981, ‘Ibra’ started his senior professional career with his hometown club, Malmö Fotbollförening, better known as Malmö FF, in 1999. In 2001, he joined Dutch club Ajax, with whom he spent three seasons, winning the Eredivisie in 2001/02. Following a €16 million to Juventus in 2004, Ibrahimovic also ‘won’ Serie A two years running, in 2004/05 and 2005/06, but ‘The Old Lady’ was subsequently stripped of those titles and demoted to Serie B for involvement in the match-fixng scandal known as ‘Calciopoli’. Nevertheless, three more, legitimate, Scudetto titles followed, during a first stint in Milan, with Internazionale, whom he joined in August, 2006.

In July, 2009, Ibrahimovic signed for Barcelona for €69.5 million but, a year later, was back in Milan, on loan to Associazione Calcio (AC), who he joined permanently twelve months later, after helping them to the 2010/11 Serie A title. He subsequently won three Ligue 1 titles in as many seasons with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and, after brief stints with Manchester United and LA Galaxy, returned to AC Milan, in January, 2020, for his swansong.