Zlatan Ibrahimovic: The MLS name; not the MLS nature

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is set to sign with LA Galaxy. He is the name that is needed to push MLS forwards, but he is not the nature.

There is an inner conflict within those that govern Major League Soccer.

One the one hand, they manage a sport that is thoroughly global. It is not American. It does not come with the same natural history of baseball, the same razzmatazz of basketball, the same cultural significance of football. And so, those that are in power want to present themselves as serious on a global level. They are not a ‘Mickey Mouse’ retirement home. They are serious, competitive, high-quality league.

And yet, on the other hand, they want to advertise themselves, commercially, to an American audience that has a very different understanding of the inner-workings of a sport. Salary caps, trades, roster moves, the money-orientated decisions of players, parity, relegation, or lack thereof. These are all traits that run through the very fabric of the American sporting culture that do not exist in the global football game. There is a natural and rather powerful dichotomy here. There is a tension, a friction, a difference that cannot be easily traversed.

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It is in this fractious context that Zlatan Ibrahimovic arrives. There have been long-winded rumours of an eventual MLS landing for the great Swede. His latter time at Manchester United has been mired by injuries. Romelu Lukaku has taken on his role. His age, perhaps, is beginning to catch up to him. And so, at 36, he made the decision. His destination? LA Galaxy, of course.

His signing offers an immediate and inherent problem for MLS. No doubt, he is the type of name that, commercially, the league is crying out for. The David Beckham-level hype will be insatiable, the public guffawing at his stature, his skill, his sublime footballing talent. His personality, which is perhaps only matched by his frame, will certainly bloom in the brash, confidence-blossoming American culture. He will bring publicity. He always does.

But while he may be the perfect name for the league in regards to their attempts to further their following in North America, he is perhaps the least-wanted nature in their efforts to dispel the critique that they are merely a retirement league for those who are playing in their lesser-selves.

Zlatan will join the likes of Beckham, Bastian Schweinsteiger, David Villa, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard Andrea Pirlo as those who have waved goodbye to their European footballing careers for that last, comfy, wallet-padding period in America. Now, some of those players have been far more influential than perhaps their age or their intentions suggested, and it would be overly-cynical of me to imply that Zlatan will simply slide into this quasi-retirement phase in which he is playing but only as a mere shadow, momentarily clicking into his former glories before slumping back into the dark. But the baying critics who are quick to label MLS as a retirement holiday home will be quick to use Zlatan as the perfect example of that. And, in reality, they would be right.

This is a player who when he arrived at United was facing questions of his age. Fast forward two years and those questions are only more pertinent. Add in the fact that he is still recovering from a year-long knee injury that would have forced many to retire at that point in their career, and it’s easy to see why some doubt the ability of the Swede at this current time.

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And here we have the perfect representation of MLS’ predicament. The right name; the wrong nature. Zlatan embodies both, the dichotomy of style and substance, of fame and force, of gratuities and gravitas. Only time will tell if he, and subsequently the league, can tip-toe that line.

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