Zlatan Ibrahimovic names Premier League legend who was his biggest influence

What's the story?

LA Galaxy star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has named Arsenal and Premier League legend Patrick Vieira as the biggest influence to his career.

In case you didn't know...

The 37-year-old Swedish striker and the Gunners legend played together during the Swede's time at Serie A side Juventus in the 2005-06 season.

The LA Galaxy star had established himself at the Bianconeri and he is currently the only striker in the history of Juventus to have reached double figures in terms of goals and assists.

The heart of the matter

The former Manchester United man was all-praise for his former teammate stating that Vieira left a huge impact on him as a player.

Speaking to L'Équipe (via Football Italia), the former Juventus man said,

"When I met him at Juventus, he had a really different mentality from the other players I'd known."

"He was always on my back, I thought I was doing things right but it was never good enough. He showed me that you have to give more, want more."

"He taught me that we play as we train. That's how it works: if you train well, you play well. I don't need to tell you the player and the professional he was."

"He was a phenomenal player who will remain in history, but I'm happy I knew the player and person. He deeply influenced my game by pushing me to give 120 per cent every day, every game."

"I'm not surprised he became a coach, he already had that in him: his experience, his maturity, his way of helping others."

"He was always available to talk. He really helped a lot of players, not just me. There were big stars at Juve at the time, and to please them you had to give a lot, you got nothing for free."

What's next?

Ibrahimović is still going strong in the MLS at the age of 37 and has recently even been linked to a move back to AC Milan.