EPL: Guardiola didn’t want me to be bigger, he’ll do same for Haaland – Ibrahimovic

AC Milan striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, has claimed Erling Haaland’s progress at Manchester City depends on the ego of manager, Pep Guardiola.

Haaland has netted 22 goals in all competitions already for City since he joined from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.

Ibrahimovic admitted he is a big fan of Haaland, but warned that Guardiola could hinder his development.

“Do I like Haaland? Yes, very much so. I think he is a very intelligent player.

“He reminds me of players like [Filippo] Inzaghi, [David] Trezeguet, [Christian] Vieri. He is the new version of these players.

“Can Guardiola make Haaland even stronger? It depends on Guardiola’s ego, if he lets him become bigger than him or not. Because he didn’t let me get bigger? Me or others? Not only me, many others,” Ibrahimovic told Canal Plus.

Ibrahimovic struggled during his single season at Camp Nou in 2009/2010, and famously did not see eye to eye with then-manager Pep Guardiola.