Los Angeles Galaxy

Zlatan Ibrahimovic rarely does things by halves, and he received his first Major League Soccer red card on Monday for slapping Montreal Impact's Michael Petrasso on the back of his head. 

The Los Angeles Galaxy forward was reacting to Petrasso stepping on his foot, but it was a petulant overreaction given it looked purely accidental on the winger's part.

Per MLS, after consultation with the video referee, the former Sweden international was given his marching orders four minutes before half-time at the Saputo Stadium:

After Video Review, Zlatan Ibrahimovic receives a red card for violent conduct. #MTLvLA https://t.co/qF8UcCZYuy

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 21, 2018

Ibrahimovic made a big splash when he arrived in MLS, netting two goals in a 4-3 comeback victory for the Galaxy against Los Angeles FC in his debut.

Since that introduction, though, he has scored just once more in seven appearances, and his antics on Monday are unlikely to have impressed his team-mates, coaches and fans. 

The Los Angeles Galaxy announced Wednesday that under-13 player Tommy Mark died Monday. 

The team issued a statement on Mark's death:

"The LA Galaxy and the Southern California soccer community are deeply saddened by the passing of Galaxy Academy player Tommy Mark on Monday, April 16. Tommy was a tremendous young man who was loved by his family, his friends and his teammates. The entire LA Galaxy family is mourning his loss. Our thoughts are with his family at this time."

The cause of death was not disclosed.

A fan account for Los Angeles FC, where Mark played during the 2016-17 season, tweeted condolences while noting a career highlight for Mark: 

Tommy Mark scored the winner in LAFC's first ever meeting with LA Galaxy, an under 12's academy game. He went on to score the first hat-trick, an honor he shares with Manny Pulga. May he rest in peace. Tommy Mark #23 #LAFC pic.twitter.com/iXtx69RRUQ

— LAFCStatdz (@LAFCStatdz) April 18, 2018

The Galaxy will honor Mark with a minute of applause before Saturday's game against Atlanta United at the StubHub Center. The team will also wear black armbands in his memory.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic tweeted Sunday about the possibility of playing for Sweden at the FIFA 2018 World Cup and sounded optimistic about his chances.

The striker has enjoyed a superb start with LA Galaxy and wrote on Twitter, "The chance of me playing in the World Cup is skyhoga." The Swedish word "skyhoga" means "sky-high," per Andrew Gilpin at the Mirror.

The chance of me playing in the World Cup is skyhöga #FifaWorldCup2018

— Zlatan Ibrahimović (@Ibra_official) April 15, 2018

The 36-year-old has three goals in three appearances since he joined the Galaxy from Manchester United in March.

He enjoyed a brilliant debut, as he inspired his team to a comeback victory against LAFC. He came on as a substitute and scored a superb long-range volley and then netted the winner in the 4-3 victory.

Ibrahimovic also scored on his first start for his new club, heading home Ashley Cole's cross in a 1-0 win over Chicago Fire on Saturday.

Squawka Football showed the instant impact he has made in MLS:

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored 3 goals in 127 minutes of MLS football since joining LA Galaxy.

His goals have already been worth five points to his new side. 🦁 pic.twitter.com/TLQGooPdLD

— Squawka (@Squawka) April 14, 2018

The striker has shown little evidence of being troubled by the knee injury that cut short his Manchester United career. He was injured in April 2017 and made his return in November 2017 but only managed another six appearances for the Red Devils before they announced they had terminated his contract early.

Ibrahimovic retired from international football in 2016 but said last week he could return, per Ian Holyman at ESPN FC: "The door is open. I feel I can do it. I know what I can do. If everything goes well, we can talk about it, but it's not on the agenda right now."

Doubts had been raised over his participation in the competition because of his association with a betting organization. Such endorsements are forbidden by FIFA.

However, Ibrahimovic said that FIFA cannot prevent him from playing, per Holyman: "FIFA can't stop me. If I want to be there, I'll be there. It's the same with the national team. If I want to play, I'll play. It's not up to FIFA. It's up to me and what I want."

The striker's form at LA Galaxy has certainly been impressive and seems to have convinced Ibrahimovic he still has a role to play on the international scene.

Former footballer Stan Collymore said Sweden's picking Ibrahimovic would send a poor message:

I love Zlatan and being honest, would love to see him at another World Cup.

Just not at the expense of a player who's turned up for every qualifier.

Sends an awful message to the rest of the squad if the manager picks him.

— Stan Collymore (@StanCollymore) April 15, 2018

Sweden have been drawn in Group F for the tournament in Russia and will face Germany, Mexico and the Korea Republic. Reigning world champions Germany will be favourites to progress, while Sweden will hope to edge Mexico for the second qualification spot.

Sweden only booked their place in the competition with a shock play-off win over Italy, but without Ibrahimovic, the team has seemed more united.

Ibrahimovic, however, offers the star quality few players possess. If he makes himself available, there's every chance he could play in Russia this summer.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic started his career with LA Galaxy in style, scoring two goals in 20 minutes to beat Los Angeles FC 4-3 on his debut in Major League Soccer on Saturday.

The MLS official twitter account relayed highlights from Fox Sports of Ibrahimovic's spectacular first goal:

AMAZING.#zLAtan#LAvLAFC https://t.co/xyk78K6xSr

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 31, 2018

Ibrahimovic completed his star turn a minute into stoppage time when former Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole teed him up to play match-winner:

Zlatan called game! #LAvLAFC pic.twitter.com/ldYCRc8P9y

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 31, 2018

Fox Soccer soon saluted Ibrahimovic for making himself an instant hit in California:

The new King of LA. 🦁 #FOXFieldPass pic.twitter.com/W4hvV0qYU0

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) March 31, 2018

The 36-year-old former Manchester United striker summed up his performance as simply what the fans in attendance at StubHub Center wanted to see, per Stuart Holden of Fox Soccer:

https://twitter.com/stuholden/status/980188742701821952

Meanwhile, Ibrahimovic's agent, Mino Raiola, applauded his client's enduring draw:

@MLS just became MLZ with triple value. Always proud of @Ibra_official

— RAIOLA (@MinoRaiola) March 31, 2018

Ibrahimovic's goals rescued Galaxy, who had found themselves 3-0 down to Carlos Vela-inspired opponents. The ex-Arsenal forward scored twice in the opening 26 minutes before an own goal from Daniel Steres put the hosts further in the hole.

However, the comeback started when Sebastian Lletget found the net just after the hour mark. It was 3-2 when Chris Pontius scored with 17 minutes remaining to set the stage for Ibrahimovic to take over.

Even by Ibrahimovic's high standards, this was a notable debut. The veteran only officially completed his move to MLS earlier his month and is also not long removed from a knee ligament injury sustained last April.

Yet the player who starred for some of Europe's biggest clubs, including Barcelona, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus, proved he's still got enough quality to boss games and let his talent keep the spotlight on himself.

Since 1996, "tradition" in Los Angeles soccer has been defined by the LA Galaxy. The team has won five Major League Soccer Cups and served as a landing spot for world-class footballers—notably high-priced, big-name European superstars in the twilight of their careers, like David Beckham. Last week, the team made headlines for signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the massively talented, hyper-confident former Manchester United star from Sweden. This is what the Galaxy do: They buy the best to win. The team is the MLS equivalent of the "evil empire," more Yankees and Lakers than Mets and Clippers—all champagne and expensive silverware.

But there is a less heralded soccer tradition, one that, for the last four years, has drifted in the background of the cacophonous Los Angeles sports landscape: a blue-collar fan culture that aligns with the underdog. These fans—many of whom have been the orphaned sons and daughters of the dearly departed Chivas USA—have grown accustomed to losing but have found other reasons to love their team.

This season, the two traditions of L.A. soccer will converge, now that the underdogs finally have a team to call their own: Los Angeles Football Club. LAFC has flown into the City of Angels on the wings of a multimillion dollar marketing campaign and a state-of-the-art, $350 million stadium. Its ownership—fronted by luminaries like Warriors part-owner Peter Guber, Magic Johnson and Will Ferrell—has made forging a lasting connection to the city's young, diverse working class the cornerstone of its outreach efforts. But the question remains: Can LAFC's inclusiveness, whether just a marketing gimmick or not, win over the Galaxy's town, or will the city reject what could be the makings of a football renaissance?

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On a dreary morning before Los Angeles Football Club's first regular-season MLS game, fans—parents pushing strollers, expectant wee-hours drinkers and assorted revelers—queued up in front of the Barney's Beanery in Terminal 2 at LAX International Airport. The area around the restaurant had been cordoned off; only LAFC supporters were allowed inside. Signage sprinkled around the terminal had steered them here. But so did the prospect of experiencing soccer euphoria. In less than 31 hours, the 150 or so fans would travel to Seattle for LAFC's first match against the Sounders.

Among the faithful were Jerry Jimenez and his wife, Nidia. They arrived decked out in the team's black and gold road jerseys and were brimming with the kind of excitement that belies the early hour of the day. "Here, we feel like we're at home," Jerry said. They brought their two-year-old son up from San Diego, where they live.

Jerry has been a Los Angeles soccer fan for years—just not of LAFC. First, he was a Galaxy fan; but soon he switched to Chivas USA, an offshoot of his favorite team, Chivas Guadalajara, a Liga MX team that plays in Mexico. "Something in my gut didn't feel right," Jerry recalled. "It was like, 'ugh.' I see that crest and it means something to me because I grew up seeing that crest and I thought, 'I'm on the wrong side.'" Upon switching to Chivas, he joined Black Army 1850, a grassroots local fan group that took its inspiration from the Ultras of Europe and South America.

But then, in 2014, Chivas USA folded, leaving Jerry—and the Black Army—without a team. When, three days later, MLS announced that a new ownership group led by a group of high-profile investors would bring a new franchise to Los Angeles, Jerry co-signed the effort. "We figured, 'Hey, this is a clean slate,'" he said. "'Let's keep pushing what we've always been pushing: to have a club in the City of Angels that represents us.' [The Black Army] crest"—two interlocking white hammers over a black background—"represents the two hammers of the working class. That's what we've always wanted from the beginning, something related to the city: Chivas Los Angeles instead of Chivas USA."

Los Angeles is sprawling and suburban and has a large Latino population. According to the 2010 United States Census, 48.5 percent of the city is made up of people of Hispanic descent. Soccer is more than entertainment to many of them. It is a heritage and a way of life. With Chivas USA, MLS made a concerted effort to court this massive potential fanbase. The Galaxy and LAFC both hope to capture the imagination of city's dominant culture.

The city's two teams have taken different approaches to market their respective franchises. StubHub Center's location in the L.A. suburb of Carson makes it more appealing to fans on the outskirts of the city. The Galaxy's marketing plan and atmosphere—from cuddly mascot Cozmo to its bright, cheerful team color scheme—is made for families in the way that a minor league baseball game might be sold to casual audiences. It has also made its case visually: Los Angeles is littered with billboards promoting the Galaxy's legacy, some declaring in both English and Spanish that the team has been "lifting trophies since '96."

LAFC has aligned itself more with fan groups like the Black Army and has focused on building ground support through community service and charity. Nomar Garciaparra, the former Red Sox and Dodgers superstar who now serves as a part-owner of LAFC, said that from the beginning, the ownership expressed a desire to become a part of the firmament of the city. "The funny thing is, I am one of them," he says of LAFC's supporters. "I grew up in L.A. I grew up in the small little city [Whittier] outside of that. Going from there to now being on the ownership side, I looked at them and say, 'Hey, I'm one of you, and here we are together.'"

Tom Penn, the president and co-owner of LAFC, told me that the team's ownership group made capitalizing on organic support one of the early tenants of its marketing campaign. "At the time [of the club's founding], we weren't going to play for three years. So, everybody said, 'What did you have to offer them?'" he said. "What we had to offer them was, you guys are with us from the beginning. Your fingerprints are on every decision, and you can tell your kids and your grandkids, 'You built this club with us.'"

That grassroots campaign seems to have worked. LAFC has sold out all of its 17,500 season tickets—"memberships," as it calls them—for their inaugural season. By contrast, according to the Los Angeles Times, Galaxy season ticket sales are down nearly 20 percent from last year for a total of 9,500.

Chris Klein, the president of the LA Galaxy who played in L.A. during the Beckham era, had his own theory about the numbers. "With anything new, there's intrigue and people wondering what it's going to be," he said. Klein seemed excited about where MLS is going. "The way that you're going to build your club—which I believe is one of the more exciting things about how our league is evolving—is our clubs have their own identity. What works in Atlanta or Minnesota is different than L.A. or New York. I don't think you're going to see one model that everyone sticks by."

He added that he didn't think L.A. having two teams is bad for business: "Having Chivas fail or any club in our league fail is not good for anyone."

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The quality of play in MLS has been a sore spot for many fans in this country and, while it has improved since 1996, it still lags behind top leagues like the English Premier League and the Spanish La Liga. That doesn't mean games are boring to watch in person: There are the beer-soaked celebrations, the pre- and postgame meetups, the tradition—popularized by Sounders FC—of the supporters' song-filled march to the stadium and the general sense of shared purpose.

But television ratings are another story: MLS has struggled to get the energy of its live experience to translate to tiny screens inside people's homes. The 2017 MLS Cup final drew only 803,000 American viewers when it aired on ESPN in December. That's down from 1.4 million who watched on the Fox broadcast network the year before.

Locally, the LA Galaxy have benefited from a 10-year, $55 million deal with Spectrum SportsNet to broadcast its games in the city. But the team only drew an average of 9,000 viewers a game on the SportsNet cable channel, according to the Los Angeles Times—not quite the rapid growth you might expect from a league that touts its fanbase as the future of American sports consumers.

LAFC, for its part, has looked to younger, city-dwelling Angelinos to build a following. The tactic is similar to that employed by teams in MLS markets such as Seattle, Portland and Atlanta. In those cities, stadiums are centrally located and easily accessible by public transportation or walking. LAFC has gone new-age with its broadcast rights strategy, too; in late January 2018, it inked a deal with YouTube to be the exclusive local carrier of LAFC matches. (The video-sharing service is the team's first jersey sponsor.) Whether the broad reach of the internet can help LAFC avoid the ratings challenges of MLS is anybody's guess. Then again, if MLS is truly the American sports league of the future, there might be another lane for it to thrive. Maybe the future of football doesn't exist on television anyway.

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Banc of California Stadium is a towering, open-air structure that sits on the southeast side of Exposition Park, off Figueroa. It features fancy restaurants, bicycle parking and a nearly 7,000-square-foot sunset deck so fans can takes full advantage of the relentlessly sunny L.A. weather. (There's a pool, too.) The downtown skyline looms in the background. The field is reminiscent of the grand football grounds of Europe. With a capacity of 22,000 fans, it's far smaller than the average first division soccer stadium. But there's a safe standing rail seating section—the first in North America—so fans can remain on their feet for the full 90 minutes, if they so choose.

The stadium is the realization of a decades-long trend in the city's history of urban planning policy. It replaced the aging Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena downtown—one of the few remaining connections to the classic mid-century architecture that the L.A. area was known for. It also crystallized the rapid change of the Exposition Park neighborhood, and the nearby USC campus, which have undergone a tremendous 21st century revitalization in recent years: the stadium, a renovation of the Coliseum, and a new $1.5 billion museum endowed by filmmaker George Lucas. (There could be even more new construction soon thanks to the upcoming 2028 Summer Olympics.)

For LAFC's ownership group, Banc of California connects the team to the neighborhood's past. "I think the location, where we're located, is integral—by the iconic Coliseum," Garciaparra said. "We have the history of the L.A. Sports Arena, knocking that down and building the new, modern stadium as well." Ownership hopes that the stadium will go a long way in attracting LAFC's legion of followers—many of whom live in the heavily populated Hispanic neighborhoods of South L.A.—when it opens on April 29. In the meantime, the team will have to find other ways to entertain fans on the road.

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When they arrived in Seattle on a damp evening under a gray-colored sky, LAFC supporters made their way to the Owl N' Thistle Pub not far from CenturyLink Field. The Black Army took over a back room and turned all the TVs to a Chivas Guadalajara/Club America Liga MX match. The melody of traditional Chivas songs echoed throughout the bar, sung in Spanish with the inelegant, throaty voices of the sufficiently inebriated.

One English fan, an actor and comedian who goes by the name "Gary Gold," caught my attention. He had feathered blond hair and wore a track jacket with a necklace—the kind one might associate with a flashy English footballer. Gold has become something of an unofficial mascot for the new club in recent years, largely because of his online persona—a fabulously successful Beckham-esque designated player from England that LAFC simply refuses to sign.

I asked Gold why he chose to hitch his nascent comedy career to LAFC rather than the Galaxy. He requested that he be allowed to conduct our interview in character. "It seems like LA Galaxy are pretty happy being a bit of a retirement home," he answered.

The next day, LAFC fans gathered at Pyramid Ale House before the Seattle match and were surprised by a visit from the team's owners. The crammed bar was filled with the kind of exuberance that makes for quite a commercial for the product—sons and daughters and mothers and fathers sharing stories, clinking glasses and praying for a win. The owners, eager to capture a bit of that magic for themselves, pulled up to the bar on a lavish bus, and the comedian Ferrell jumped out to mix it up with the supporters and revel in a "Will Ferrell" chant.

It's not every day that an owner—or a mega-celebrity—mixes it up with fans. But LAFC's supporters are used to it. Julian Sperling, who hails from La Habra Heights, California, and is a member of the Black Army, has met with members of the front office before. They pitched him on the club and, he admitted, their message appealed to him. "They were talking about [how] a team based in Los Angeles can encompass and exemplify the community itself," Sperling said.

The club, and a handful of other LAFC fan groups, have been involved in much of the decision-making related to the expansion team's culture—from the team colors to the amenities in the stadium. Jerry and Nidia were both present at the first meeting between the team's front office and Gensler, the architecture firm that designed Banc of California Stadium.

Nidia was pregnant with Diego at the time, and the first people they broke the news of his impending birth to were their fellow fans in that Gensler meeting. "For us, it was a very special moment, because it felt like this is all coming together for us," Jerry said. "And now, we're building a legacy with our child that's coming into this. Now, he's almost two. He's been through this whole process with us."

As a way to commemorate their son's ties to the club and stadium, they signed a bit of concrete in a special section of the stadium during the initial build last year and added his handprint. "It's no longer just the team," Jerry said, tearing up. "Now, it's more about what Diego is going to get out of this. We're building something within our family that's going to be a tradition."

He continued: "It's the connection with people. … It's the connection with the club and the people that are a part of the club. We all feel a part of it here. That's where there's the differentiating factor between the Galaxy and here. If you look around, there's a lot of people here. I think they get that feeling as well, where we feel a part of this club more so than we ever have and a part of the city as well." 

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has reportedly been forced to take a 95 per cent pay cut to join the L.A. Galaxy, with his wages dropping from €21.8 million per year to €1.2 million.

The MLS side have filled all four franchise player spots and have a wage limit of €3.2 million, meaning they can only offer Ibrahimovic €1.2 million a year, according to Sports Illustrated (h/t Marca)

L.A. Galaxy announced on Friday they had signed the striker after Manchester United had terminated his contract early.

Club president Chris Klein explained why they had invested in the 36-year-old, telling the club's official website: "In addition to our rich history, we continue to invest in building a future that will see us continue to reach new achievements. We aggressively pursued Zlatan and are extremely pleased to add him to our team."

Ibrahimovic was earning £220,000 per week at Manchester United, making him one of the highest-paid players in the Premier League, according to Mick Gadd at the Mirror. 

However, the Swede managed just seven outings in all competitions for the Red Devils this season, as he struggled to make his way back into the team after a severe knee injury. Newsweek's Dan Cancian said Manchester United were right to get him off the wage bill:

Right decision to allow Ibrahimovic to leave. Age is finally starting to take its toll and United could put his wages to much better use next season.

— Dan Cancian (@dan_cancian) March 2, 2018

Ibrahimovic will now try his luck in the U.S., and his presence in the Galaxy team will help boost the club's profile around the world. While he may have seen his salary cut, he may still receive income from sponsors, according to writer Ben Spratt:

The cap doesn't apply to every player. And, by all accounts, Ibrahimovic's wages are not going to be all that astronomical - may well rely on sponsors to make up the difference

— Ben Spratt (@bensprattjourn) March 23, 2018

The striker's arrival should boost the club's shirt sales, as he was in the top 10 of best selling shirts in the Premier League, according to sales recorded by Sports Direct (via Charlotte Duncker at the Manchester Evening News).

Simon Peach at the Press Association showed how the L.A. Galaxy were already selling Ibrahimovic merchandise:

The LA Galaxy aren’t messing around. Here’s some of the Ibrahimovic items already for sale pic.twitter.com/5RVb30jGbA

— Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) March 23, 2018

Ibrahimovic's arrival at the Galaxy should help bring in the crowds, and although he may well have had to take a pay cut, he's a charismatic character who is unlikely to be short of offers to top up his salary.

Los Angeles Galaxy have released a video featuring striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a lion as part of his unveiling at the club.

#zLAtan pic.twitter.com/S73CpaNMaP

— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) March 23, 2018

Manchester United confirmed on Thursday they had terminated the Swede's contract, and he took out a full-page advert in the Los Angeles Times announcing his arrival, per BBC Sport. The club then confirmed on Friday he had officially signed, via their website.

Ibrahimovic also took to social media to say goodbye to Manchester United after almost two seasons at the club, where he won the EFL Cup and the UEFA Europa League:

Great things also come to an end and it is time to move on after two fantastic seasons with Manchester United. Thank you to the club, the fans, the team, the coach, the staff and everybody who shared with me this part of my history. #foreverred pic.twitter.com/vo1Gs3SUHL

— Zlatan Ibrahimović (@Ibra_official) March 22, 2018

The striker has now marked his arrival in Los Angeles in typically charismatic style, and he has previous when it comes to lions. Ibrahimovic famously described himself as a lion when discussing the Premier League's top scorers, as shown by Football on BT Sport:

"Lions don't compare themselves with humans." 🦁👏

Thanks for stopping by the Premier League, Zlatan 👊 pic.twitter.com/FpqcJYkcgY

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 22, 2018

He also said "lions they don't recover like humans" after making his long-awaited comeback from a serious knee injury in November 2017.

His comment certainly entertained team-mate Paul Pogba, as shown by Football on BT Sport:

"Lions, they don't recover like humans."

"We're doing the lions thing again, yeah?"

😂😂😂@DesKellyBTS with Zlatan and Pogba 🎙 pic.twitter.com/PEvBMttIUI

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 18, 2017

Despite his bravado, Ibrahimovic only made another six appearances for Manchester United after that game as he struggled for fitness and form, and it was little surprise to see him released from his contract early.

With his career slowly winding down, a move to Major League Soccer makes sense, and Ibrahimovic has explained why he was tempted by the Galaxy, per Indy Football:

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: "I'm excited to come over and to get the experience with the Galaxy and to explore how the football is there. I want to be part of it and make it better." pic.twitter.com/5RVmzIm9ob

— Indy Football (@IndyFootball) March 23, 2018

However, his arrival in MLS at the age of 36 will do little to dispel the perception that the league is a retirement home for ageing stars, per sports journalist Stefan Bienkowski:

I'm trying *really* hard not hate all over Zlatan to MLS. In isolation he's still a very decent player, but in the grand scheme of things its a PR disaster for a league surely trying to move away from the retirement league criticisms.

— Stefan Bienkowski (@SBienkowski) March 23, 2018

Ibrahimovic will certainly boost the club's profile globally, and the MLS side are already making the most of his arrival, as shown by Simon Peach at BBC Sport:

The LA Galaxy aren’t messing around. Here’s some of the Ibrahimovic items already for sale pic.twitter.com/5RVb30jGbA

— Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) March 23, 2018

The former Manchester United certainly knows how to make an entrance, but he will now have to back that up with performances on the pitch. Although he's enjoyed a glittering career, he has barely played since suffering cruciate ligament damage in April 2017, although that is unlikely to faze him.

“Nothing. She already has Zlatan.”

—Zlatan Ibrahimovic when asked what he was getting his wife for her birthday.

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Hollywood is the land of big egos, but it has never seen anything quite like Zlatan Ibrahimovic. 

When he boarded his flight from Manchester to Los Angeles, he might well have needed extra luggage to carry his confidence.

This is the man with so many tricks, he calls himself Ibracadabra. The man who, when offered a trial at Arsenal as a teenager, told Arsene Wenger that he does not do auditions. The man who made a speedy recovery from a potentially career-ending knee injury last year and then said it was because "lions don't recover like humans."

L.A. Galaxy are not just signing a footballer, they are perhaps signing the greatest showman the sport has ever seen.

Ibrahimovic, 36, spent the past 20 months with Premier League side Manchester United. He joined them at a time when they were falling short of the high expectations placed on them, a time when they needed a leader and belief. He sorted that.

Over the course of his career, he has made a habit of being the headline-grabber. More than 400 goals in 19 years across European football made sure of it.

At United he scored 29 goals in 53 appearances. Every one was followed by a celebration with his arms outstretched. The message: "I'm the man."

His confidence is such that it's difficult to know which side of arrogant he sits on. He often speaks of himself in the third person and, at times, appears to believe he is the only man on the pitch who matters. The way he introduced himself to the Los Angeles market was pure Zlatan too.

Zlatan's full page letter in the LA Times today! 😆 pic.twitter.com/NVvr5gTg5U

— BoyleSports (@BoyleSports) March 23, 2018

"I can't help but laugh at how perfect I am," he once said. A joke? No one can be sure.

English journalist Steve Bates has covered the Man United beat for over 30 years for tabloid newspaper the Sunday People and recalls club legend Eric Cantona as the only other man with such aura.

"I have interviewed Zlatan a number of times and he is as charismatic and confident as people say he is, but I do think he has a sense of humour with it all," Bates said. "I don't think he is [arrogant] in the sense of believing all the hype around him.

"I would put him at same level as Cantona when he was at United; people certainly take notice of him. His size helps, though, he is a very intimidating guy!"

Ibrahimovic stands at 6'5", and his imposing physique has certainly been a powerful tool in a career that has seen him play at Malmo, Ajax, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain as well as United. It's a collection of clubs that underlines just how elite a player he is.

During that time he has won two Dutch league titles, four in Italy, one in Spain and four in France. He also collected 19 other cup winner's medals, including the UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Europa League. His biggest regret in European football is that he never won the Champions League—perhaps because, without this title, he seems like just another footballer.  

In his homeland, people have been very unsure of him throughout his career, despite the fact he is their most famous sportsman of all time.

"There are very mixed feelings about Zlatan in Sweden," explains Expressen newspaper journalist Sebastian Mattsson. "For some he is an icon, but he also has his critics…a lot of them.

"It tends to be a generational thing. Older people do not like him so much, whereas the younger ones love him.  A main issue is that his personality goes against the Swedish ideal, the classic outlook of an athlete. In Sweden they are humble and quiet—like the great tennis player Bjorn Borg. But Zlatan goes against all that."

Ibrahimovic has not played for Sweden's national team since June 2016, but sources told me he could yet return for this summer's World Cup in Russia—if he chooses to do so. That's the power he has.

"We are Zweden," he tweeted when the team qualified for the competition, despite not playing any part in the feat.

It is fair to say that one of his critics is 57-year-old Gunnar Persson, a Swedish football expert who has been writing about the game for almost 40 years.

"Zlatan is not really a natural-born when it comes to humility," he points out.

"For the national team he became too big, too important. The team spirit has been rebuilt since he left, something that the Swedish side always was famous for."

When a player has such self-assurance, he treads a fine line between being a major catalyst for his team or a serious weakness.

Ibrahimovic's international career certainly felt that way. Between 2001-2009 he was held in place by older and more experienced team-mates such as Henrik Larsson, Freddie Ljungberg and Olof Mellberg. The role changed between 2010–2016; he was allowed to run the show.

"In the long run, his team-mates—or, rather, the other players—became wary of him," Persson recalls. "It didn't take them long to realise they were now only a supporting cast to him. The team had no tactics, just the intimidating presence of Zlatan. Every attack should go through him.

"It didn't matter if he was up for the occasion or not. When he was on, maybe it worked. When he wasn't? Absolute disaster."

Ibrahimovic's last tournament, Euro 2016, was not one to remember. The side failed to collect a win in a group alongside Italy, Belgium and Ireland, and Ibrahimovic did not score a goal.

Time will tell whether he returns to the international fold; much will likely depend on how he fares in the coming months of MLS action.

He has only played 187 minutes of football since April. A cruciate knee ligament injury suffered at the back end of last season, during a Europa League match against Anderlecht, led to a spell of rehabilitation that would test his special powers to the limit.

There were certainly doubts over whether he would even play again, but when he returned against Newcastle United four months ago, the Swedish icon appeared to be disproving anyone who said the countdown towards retirement had begun.

"I told you, lions don't recover like humans," he said on MUTV. "That I have now proved, rather than just saying it."

Appearances against Basel, Brighton & Hove Albion, Watford and Manchester City followed before he scored in an EFL Cup start against Bristol City. All appeared well, and his soft approach to the comeback had seemingly paid dividends. But it all came to a grinding halt as Ibra was taken off at half-time in United's Premier League match against Burnley on Boxing Day with the team trailing 2-0 at home. He was never seen in a red shirt again.

"I think it was his decision to initially step back," Bates said. "If he is not at his absolute best he feels like he is letting himself down."

He realised his career at Old Trafford was over. Sources at United believe he had only been hanging around in hope the team would win the Champions League. Once they had been knocked out, he pushed ahead with the proposed switch Stateside.

Galaxy have unsuccessfully tried to recruit Ibrahimovic on at least two previous occasions, according to Kevin Baxter of the L.A. Times. Now they seemingly have him—Grant Wahl of SI.com reported he is signing a two-year deal worth $3 million—some sources around the California-based club fear he could actually upset the team ethic they have been trying to build ahead of this new season.

Yes, he will provide highlight-reel moments. Yes, he will bring fans through the gates. And, yes, his presence will add an intriguing factor to a rivalry with new franchise LAFC.

But how will he deal with mundane matches? A lack of atmosphere at StubHub Center? Teammates clearly not fit to lace his boots?

Maybe he is rocking up in America for more emotive reasons. Perhaps Hollywood is exactly where Ibrahimovic should be. Maybe this is the ending that suits his story.

"He certainly fits America better than Sweden," Mattsson admitted. "He is larger than life, more an American athlete than a Swedish athlete.

"I'm still not sure why he has chosen America, for football reasons. I don't think he could name 10 MLS players even if you gave him a year to think about it! But there are new marketing opportunities and rumours of a movie at the end of it all."

Bates agrees: "I couldn't think of a more fitting place to end his career."

But there will always be doubts about how this pans out.

Ibrahimovic loves being the centre of attention. He craves recognition both in his sport and in the public eye. He loves the glamor his career has provided. It's unlikely he wants to hide away in LA.

#zLAtan pic.twitter.com/S73CpaNMaP

— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) March 23, 2018

James Robertson works as a journalist, editor and producer in New York but previously worked in London and Los Angeles as a showbiz reporter for British newspaper the Daily Mirror. He is also a keen football fan so has seen all sides of the territory Ibrahimovic is going to contend with.

"For celebrities coming to L.A. who are famous outside of the Hollywood bubble, it hurts," he told me.

"I could have painted the Mona Lisa, but an Instagram model with a picture next to the Mona Lisa will get better treatment and be more loved. It's a fragile place.

"I think [Steven] Gerrard found it boring [when he joined L.A. Galaxy from Liverpool]. He drank with Robbie Keane at an Irish bar and went to Disney World. But that's it. Los Angeles is about Hollywood and entertainment—not soccer.

"Outside of the stadium, Los Angeles is a big place. It can get lonely and it'll be a wake-up call. I went to Hollywood Boulevard the day Gerrard signed for L.A. Galaxy and I showed about 40 people a photo of him. They all thought it was Michael Buble.

"I bet if I did that with Zlatan, they would half know and half not give a f--k. For an ego, it's better left alone."

But this is Zlatan. He doesn't fit into a new environment, the environment fits around him.

L.A. Galaxy's new signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic took out a full-page advert in the Los Angeles Times on Friday to announce his arrival at the club.

ESPN FC's Dale Johnson posted an image of the stunt via Twitter:

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has taken out a full page advert in the @latimes announcing his arrival at LA Galaxy. Classic Zlatan. pic.twitter.com/TeFXM2De7e

— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) March 23, 2018

The spread, which is entirely blank apart from the phrase "Dear Los Angeles, You're welcome," accompanied by the player's signature and the club crest, comes less than 24 hours after Sky Sports first reported news of the switch.

"After being in Europe, winning 33 trophies, playing in the best teams in the world, playing with the best players in the world, I wanted to come to the U.S. and play my game there," Ibrahimovic said, per Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times. "I wanted people to enjoy my game there and to win. And I chose the Galaxy to do that."

Manchester United agreed to terminate the Swedish star's contract with immediate effect to facilitate the transfer, per Lyall Thomas for Sky Sports. Ibrahimovic leaves Old Trafford having started just one Premier League game this season. He enjoyed a successful debut campaign in England last term, scoring 28 goals in all competitions.

His deal at L.A. Galaxy runs until the end of the 2019 season, per Grant Wahl for Sports Illustrated, and Ibrahimovic is excited, as evidenced by the unusual means of how he delivered the news to fans in Los Angeles. He had initially announced his intention to leave United via an Instagram post on Thursday:

Zlatan has had a glittering playing career, winning league titles in four countries and enjoying prominent spells with the likes of AC Milan, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Ajax, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain.

Although the Sweden legend—who scored 62 goals for his country in 116 games—is considering coming out of retirement to play again at this summer's FIFA World Cup, it is clear the 36-year-old's career is nearing an end. Not only is MLS a step down from the Premier League, but L.A. Galaxy finished bottom of the Western Conference last season.

However, the Galaxy have kicked off the 2018 MLS season with back-to-back wins against the Portland Timbers and New York City. Ibrahimovic joins Ashley Cole and Giovani dos Santos to make his new club one of the front-runners for success.

For United, getting Ibrahimovic off the wage bill can only be good news. He was earning £125,000 per week, per Ian Whittell for The Times, considerably less than the £350,000 per week he was earning the previous campaign. Nevertheless, it was a high figure for someone who played just 103 minutes of league football in 2017-18.

As the full-page advert might suggest, L.A. Galaxy are set for an exciting year with Zlatan among their ranks.

Los Angeles Galaxy president Chris Klein has not ruled out making a move for Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, per Scott French for mlssoccer.com. 

The Galaxy were reportedly "inching closer" to signing Ibrahimovic, per Jeff Carlisle for ESPN FC. However, this has been played down by the president of the MLS club.

"We're nowhere," Klein said on an approach for the United striker. "We wouldn't [confirm that talks are ongoing]. It's unfair, because he's contracted to another club.”

The 36-year-old could be looking to move following the arrival of Alexis Sanchez at Manchester United in January. Ibrahimovic has only made one league start since his return from injury in November 2017 and has not featured in any competitive matches since Dec. 26 at the 2-2 draw with Burnley due to a flare up of his knee injury. He has been out of action for a month and is not quite ready to return:

Jose Mourinho tells #MUTV that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is back in first-team training but is not yet ready for a return to action, while Eric Bailly also remains unavailable. There are no fresh injury concerns. #MUFC

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 9, 2018

Despite his limited game time at United, former Tottenham Hotspur forward and current LA Galaxy player Giovani dos Santos is excited by the prospect of the Swede playing in MLS.

"I don't know if it's going to happen," he said. "I respect him. I think he's one of the best players in history, you know, the greatest striker. A player like him, I think, is welcome in every team."

Ibrahimovic played a big part in his debut season in Manchester, scoring 25 goals in the Premier League and Europa League before his season was ended with a serious knee injury in April. The Swedish striker hasn't been able to hit his stride since recovering, not least because Romelu Lukaku, signed from Everton in the summer, has started 25 of United's 26 league matches in 2017/18.

LA Galaxy are in their offseason and looking for new recruits before the 2018 MLS campaign gets under way on March 4. Ibrahimovic would be a coup for the team.