Ajax have signed Maximilian Ibrahimovic, the 19-year-old son of their former player Zlatan, on loan from AC Milan until the end of the season.
The deal includes an option for Ajax to make the deal permanent in the summer.
Ajax’s director of football Marijn Beuker said Ibrahimovic, a right-footed winger, would mainly feature for the club’s under-23 side this season but would be integrated into the first team with a view to becoming “a permanent part of Ajax 1’s attack” in future.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is widely regarded as one of Sweden’s greatest ever players and among the finest strikers of his generation. He is his country’s all-time top scorer.
Having started his career at Malmo in Sweden, the 44-year-old made his name at Ajax in a spell from 2001 to 2004, scoring 48 goals in 110 appearances for the Amsterdam club before joining Juventus.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his name at Ajax in a spell from 2001 to 2004 (Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)
He also played for Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United and LA Galaxy, before retiring at Milan in 2023.
Maximilian, who moved from Hammarby IF’s youth academy to Milan’s academy in 2022, is keen to distinguish himself from his celebrated father,.
“It’s cool that he also played for Ajax, I’m happy that I have the opportunity to play here also and to develop,” he said in an interview with his new club.
“I want to write my own story, I’m my own person, my player and I’m here to do my own thing.
“Ibrahimovic is just a name. I’m just Maximilian. If I would care about my name, I would be in university to study, I wouldn’t play football. If I cared, then it would be all wrong. It wouldn’t even be fun to play, if I always compared myself (to him).
“I don’t think I even look like him, we don’t play the same position and I’m maybe three or four inches shorter than him, so we’re so different.”
