Italian Police recordings Reveal Orchestrated Zlatan Ibrahimoviฤ Departure from Ajax
ROME – Newly surfaced recordings obtained by Italian police detail a calculated scheme orchestrated by football agents Luciano Moggi and Mino Raiola to engineer Zlatan Ibrahimoviฤ’s transfer from Ajax Amsterdam, culminating in a โฌ16 million deal finalized on the last day of the transfer deadline. the recordings, decades old and recently resurfaced, expose a deliberate effort to manufacture conflict between Ibrahimoviฤ and teammate Rafael van der Vaart to facilitate the Swedish striker’s exit.
The revelations come as scrutiny intensifies on the practices of football intermediaries and the lengths to which clubs and agents will go to secure advantageous transfers. The case highlights the frequently enough-opaque world of player negotiations and raises questions about the integrity of the transfer market.The recordings offer a rare glimpse into the inner workings of a high-stakes deal involving one of football’s most iconic players, and demonstrate how perceived on-field tensions can be strategically exploited for financial gain.
According to the recordings, Moggi and Raiola devised a plan to “unleash a fight” between Ibrahimoviฤ and van der vaart, fabricating discord to create a narrative justifying the player’s departure. Moggi, reflecting on the scheme decades later in a podcast, stated, “It wasn’t really clashing at ajax between Zlatan and Van der Vaart. So that was another way to let him go away. By unleashed a fight. It was made up by me and Mino. A preconceived plan to be able to leave.”
Arie van Eijden, the negotiator representing Ajax at the time, acknowledged the manipulative tactics employed by Moggi and Raiola. “Let us as club drivers not think that we have sent it. No, of course, as a driver you can say that you are not sent. Sure it is indeed driven. but that’s how it works!” van Eijden conceded, confirming his awareness of the orchestrated situation.
The deal ultimately saw Ibrahimoviฤ leave Ajax for a reported โฌ16 million, a significant sum at the time. The Italian police investigation, the context for the recordings’ emergence, initially focused on broader issues within Italian football, but the Ibrahimoviฤ transfer surfaced as a case study in manipulative transfer practices. The recordings provide concrete evidence of how agents can actively shape narratives and exploit relationships to benefit thier clients and secure lucrative deals.