Stefano Okaka, the Italian striker, reckons that his countryman Mario Balotelli could have been hugely successful at his previous club AC Milan if he had been as matured as Zatan Ibrahimovic.
Balotelli played for Milan for one and half seasons, while, Ibrahimovic was there for a slightly longer period i.e. for two seasons.
There’s not much difference between the strike rates of these two players at Milan, but, still, Okaka considers one as a success, while, the other one as a failure.
Speaking in one of his interviews recently, Okaka said, “I don’t think Mario managed to do as well as he could have here in Italy and his temperament is the reason for that.”
“Look at somebody like Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He had also come to Milan with big reputation, but, he was extremely calm during his time. He never tried to put blame on anyone for anything. He just played his game and scored a lot of goals.”
“Mario, on the other hand, was very different. He never introspects. You will always find him blaming others. I mean he is a fantastic talent no doubt and he might find that old spark at Liverpool, but, at Milan, he could have done much better.”
Ibrahimovic was actually placed on loan to Milan during the 2010-11 Season by his then parent club Barcelona and the Sweden international fired in 14 goals for the Rossoneri to earn a permanent contract the next summer.
The 32-year old was even more successful in 2011-12 striking at a rate of almost 1 goal per match in the Italian top tier.
However, that proved to be Ibrahimovic’s last season at Milan as he moved to the French club Paris Saint Germain in July 2012. He cost PSG 20 million Euros.