People have asked me what I would have done if I hadn’t become a footballer.
I have no idea.
Maybe I would have become a criminal.
There was a lot of crime in those days.
Not that we went out thieving.
But a lot of stuff just happened, and not just bikes.
We’d be in and out of department stores as well, and sometimes I got a buzz just from doing it.
I got a kick out of nicking stuff, and I’ve got to be happy that Dad never found out.
Dad drank, sure, but there were a lot of rules as well.
You’ve got to do the right thing, and that.
Definitely no stealing, no way.
All hell would have broken loose.
The time we got caught at Wessels department store in our puffa coats, I was lucky.
We’d nicked stuff worth 1,400 kronor (about £120).
It was more than just the usual sweets.
My friend’s dad had to come and collect us, and when the letter arrived at home, saying ‘Zlatan Ibrahimovic´ has been caught shoplifting …’, I managed to tear it up before Dad saw it.
I was caught up in it and carried on stealing, so yeah, things could have turned out badly.
From 'I am Zlatan Ibrahimovic'https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DH4BL4U
