That Zlatan Ibrahimovic does not win the Guldbollen, the Ballon d’Or that in Sweden distinguishes the best footballer of the year is news. The now Milan striker is the player from the Scandinavian country who has won the award the most times (12), but this time he has been surpassed in the vote.
The Guldbollen of 2021 is Emil Forsberg according to the criteria of the Swedish press. The Leipzig striker achieves the award for the first time at 30 years old and succeeds Ibrahimovic himself, winner in 2020, after being a key piece last season in the runner-up of the energy team in the Bundesliga and the subsequent classification to return to participate in the Champions League.
Emil Forsberg, with the Guldbollen of 2021
In total, Forsberg scored 9 goals and gave 6 assists in the 2020-2021 campaign, while in the current season he has 6 goals and two decisive passes, although Leipzig occupies a disappointing tenth league position and has been eliminated in the group stage of the Champions League. League in the Manchester City and PSG group.
At the age of 30 in October, Forsberg participated in the Eurocup played in 2021 with the Swedish team, which reached the round of 16, and scored 4 goals, only surpassed by Cristiano Ronaldo and Patrik Schick, both with 5.
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Ibra received the first Guldbollen in 2005 at just 24 years as a Juventus player and, after the hiatus of 2006 when Fredrik Ljungberg (Arsenal) achieved it, from 2007 to 2016 he was proclaimed for 10 years in a row as the best footballer in Sweden to as it went through Inter, Barça, Milan, PSG and Manchester United.
Andreas Granqvist (Krasnodar) won the award in 2017, Manchester United defender Victor Lindelof in 2018 and 2019 and Ibra won Guldbollen for the 12th time in 2020 at 39 years old as a Milan player.
Despite the fact that Ibra scored 15 goals in Serie A last season that helped Milan finish runners-up and, above all, return to the Champions League after a seven-year absence, no one questions Forsberg’s merits. But Zlatan, at 40 years old, is willing to play until he is 50, as he has stated on more than one occasion, and once again opt for the Guldbollen, the prize that he is most excited about of all.