Impossible to replace ´phenomenon´ Ibrahimovic – Blanc

Laurent Blanc paid tribute to Zlatan Ibrahimovic after his last game for Paris Saint-Germain at Parc de Princes on Saturday.

PSG celebrated their fourth consecutive Ligue 1 title in style with a 4-0 drubbing of Nantes, in which Ibrahimovic signed off with two goals.

Ibrahimovic’s bracer made the Sweden international the club’s most prolific goalscorer in one league season with 38 goals, and Blanc had nothing but praise for the man who has spearheaded much of his success at the club.

“Zlatan, Zlatan… Some don’t like him, some love him. For me, Zlatan is a phenomenon, as shown by his statistics and the goals he’s scored,” the PSG coach said.

“He’s a phenomenon. He succeeds in doing amazing skills, amazing stuff with the ball while he’s built tall and strong. It’s unbelievable.

“Whether you love him or not, with the statistics he has, with the quality he has, I can tell you that he belongs with the best – and I’ve seen lot of players.”

With Ibrahimovic heading for the exit, Blanc admitted his club have a big transfer window coming up as they look to replace the talisman.

“We are thinking about the next market and we’ll always try to be competitive,” he said.

“Competitive in France of course, as we already are, but above all in Europe.

“We lose a phenomenon, a player who scores lot of goals, there is no player like him, like Zlatan, in the current market.

“So we are going to have to invent him! He doesn’t exist.

“So we have to keep our course of action, we may try another one, but we must stay competitive.”