Ghostwriter of Zlatan Ibrahimovic's autobiography admits book contains fake quotes

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s autobiography contains invented quotes, says ghostwriter

The ghostwriter of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s autobiography, “I am Zlatan,” David Lagercrantz, has admitted that large sections of his book contain invented quotes. The writer has said that he wasn’t directly quoting Zlatan in the book but looked to imagine what he would have said.

Quite openly, Lagercrantz admitted that he invented many of the quotes, rather than directly copying what he was told by Ibrahimovic.

In an interview with the Telegraph, he said, “I worked with Ibrahimovic very thoroughly. I just asked him about things I didn’t know … I think it really was his true voice. The key thing is that I was not working as a journalist. I was not quoting him.”

“I know this – if you want to find something that sounds true and authentic, the last thing you want to do is quote. I don’t think I have any real quotes from him. I tried to get an illusion of him, to try and find the story. I tried to find the literary Ibrahimovic.”

When asked what the Swedish superstar’s reaction was to the book, Lagercrantz said, “You can imagine the moment when I, the fake Zlatan Ibrahimovic, had to send the manuscript to the real Zlatan Ibrahimovic. “The first thing [Ibrahimovic] said was, ‘What the f*** is this? I never said this!’ But after a while I think he understood what I was trying to do. Nowadays he thinks it’s really his story.”

The book received a lot of critical acclaim and was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award. It contained some hard hitting stories about Ibrahimovic and his upbringing, and his interactions during his club and international career, including his infamous bust-up with Pep Guarodila.