‘He just likes being the centre of attention’: Zlatan Ibrahimovic is slammed by former team-mate Hakan Calhanoglu after mocking him on AC Milan’s title parade… as now-Inter star insists veteran striker ‘always calls me up and asks to go out for dinner’
- Hakan Calhanoglu has hit out at Zlatan Ibrahimovic after AC Milan’s title parade
- At the parade, Ibrahimovic mocked the Turkish midfielder’s move to rivals Inter
- The 28-year-old completed a controversial switch to Inter for free last summer
- Calhanoglu says that Ibrahimovic ‘just likes being the centre of attention’
Inter Milan’s Hakan Calhanoglu has hit back at Zlatan Ibrahimovic after the Swedish legend mocked him during AC Milan’s title parade.
The two players were team-mates at Milan during the 2020/21 season before the Turkish midfielder decided to see out his contract and move to rivals Inter in the summer.
The move went down sourly with Milan fans and clearly was not forgotten about by the players either – who made sure to make mention of his transfer during their title parade.
Hakan Calhanoglu (above) has hit back at Zlatan Ibrahimovic after his comments made in May
Ibrahimovic (left) mocked Calhanoglu’s move to Inter after AC Milan won the league title
The Serie A title race went down to the wire last season, with Milan’s 3-0 win over Sassuolo on the final day seeing them pip rivals Inter to the Scudetto by two points.
As the players and staff paraded the league title around their city centre in May, Ibrahimovic took the microphone and told the crowd: ‘Hey, send a message to Hakan’.
The fans in attendance clearly reacted to the request – with jeers and boos being heard as soon as the Inter midfielder’s name was mentioned.
The Swedish striker asked fans to ‘send a message to Hakan’ during Milan’s title parade
Calhanoglu and Ibrahimovic were team-mates at Milan during the 2020/21 season
The former Bayern Leverkusen man has since hit back and claimed that Ibrahimovic ‘just likes being the centre of attention’.
Speaking to Tivibu Spor, per football-italia, Calhanoglu said: ‘He is a 40-year-old man, not 18, so I wouldn’t do that sort of thing at his age. He just likes being the centre of attention. He didn’t contribute to the Scudetto this season, he barely played, but will do everything to be the focus anyway.
‘Besides, he is the one who always calls me up, asks me to go out to dinner or for a motorbike ride. He wrote about me in his book too. He had to write something, or it would’ve been blank pages. It’s best not to bother, honestly.’
AC Milan won their first league title since 2011 after pipping rivals Inter to the Scudetto
Calhanoglu continued his verbal barrage by claiming that AC Milan’s fans didn’t chant his name once during his four-year spell at the club.
He added: ‘I am very happy at Inter, though, and the support of the fans is very helpful. I played at Milan for four years, but nobody ever chanted my name in the stands, whereas it happens every time I just warm up for Inter.’
The Turkish international scored 32 goals in 172 appearances for Milan before making the switch to their close rivals last summer.