10 best football quotes of 2017

#9 Zlatan saying Zlatan things

Lion stare?

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a player who has become a cult figure in the footballing world for his quips and straightforward comments as much for his exploits on the pitch. The Manchester United forward suffered a major knee injury in April and it looked like that would be a sad end to a stellar career. However, the Swede lived up to his reputation of being able to walk the talk and he expressed the same in typical fashion in October.

"I told you, lions don't recover like humans. That I have now proved, rather than just saying it. I am just thankful I am able to run, do my things, do a little bit of 'abracadabra' magic - things that a lion does!"

The 36-year old is nearing the end of a glorious career and he is a personality that will be sorely missed.

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#8 Alonso remains classy on retirement

One of the classiest players ever

2017 saw the retirement of several top players such as Philipp Lahm, Totti, Andrea Pirlo and Xabi Alonso. The latter called it a day on an illustrious career with titles at Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

The Spaniard has always been a classy player on the ball and off it as well.So, when he announced his retirement, he only required a few words to express his emotions.

Lived it. Loved it. Farewell beautiful game. pic.twitter.com/1aSN7GGNzZ

— Xabi Alonso (@XabiAlonso) March 9, 2017

Stay classy, Xabi.