Ibrahimovic presented as Paris SG player

Ambitious French club Paris SG moved into a new dimension yesterday as they presented Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic to the media as their latest signing.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic joins the big-spending Ligue 1 side on a three-year contract from Milan for a reported fee of around €20 million and stands to earn a salary worth €14 million a year.

“I want to thank Paris SG and Leonardo for the great work they’ve done,” Ibrahimovic told reporters at Parc des Princes.

“I think they’ve made something that looked impossible, possible. I’m very happy to be sitting here. After lots of talks, I’m finally a PSG player. It’s a big step in my career, another dream come true.

“I think this is a very interesting project and I had no doubts.

“In my mind I was very clear, and I knew what I wanted.

“I want to be part of this club’s history and I’m pretty sure we will make history.

“I came here to win, not for anything else, and I’m pretty sure we’ll win some trophies.

“And they’ve bought the best defender in the world, Thiago Silva. As long as I have him behind me, I don’t need to look back.”

The departures of Thiago Silva and Ibrahimovic have robbed Milan of their two brightest stars, but Ibrahimovic said he had not been encouraged to leave the cash-strapped San Siro club, with whom he won the 2011 Italian title.

“No-one at Milan influenced me. It was my choice and my choice alone,” he said.

“I was very happy to be at Milan. They gave me my smile back (after a disappointing season at Bar-celona in 2009-10).

“They made it easy for me to come to PSG so I thank them and I wish them all the best.”

Having seen their side pipped to the Ligue 1 title by rivals Montpellier last season, Paris SG’s owners, Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), have doubled their efforts to turn the team into one of Europe’s leading sides.

Ibrahimovic is the fourth player to have joined the club from the Serie A this summer, after Thiago Silva, Argentine forward Ezequiel Lavezzi, and the promising 19-year-old midfielder Marco Verratti, who was also presented to the press yesterday.

Around a 100 journalists from around the world attended the press conference at which Ibrahimovic was presented, with a significant crowd of supporters waiting outside the stadium and then at the Place du Trocadero for a glimpse of their new star.

Formerly of Malmo, Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona and Milan, Ibrahimovic has won league titles in three different countries and finished as the top scorer in Serie A last season.