The Case of Zlatan

"... until Ibrahimovic arrived, they (Inter) hadn't won anything." - Zlatan Ibrahimovic, speaking of himself and his former club, upon joining their local rivals Milan.

Whenever you hear someone speak of himself in the third-person, you pretty much know the guy's full of himself.

In the case of Zlatan, is he correct in saying that he deserves much credit for Inter's success during the three years he spent at Guiseppe Meazza?

More concisely, did Inter win because of Zlatan, or did Inter win in spite of Zlatan?

I'm still of the opinion that Zlatan, while having a terrific goals-to-game ratio in top European leagues (157 goals in 300 league games), is not the big-game player that some make him out to be. His 22 goals in 76 European matches is an indication of his relative lack of success on the biggest stage in club football.

23 goals in 63 caps, including 13 coming in 9 games against the likes of Azerbaijan, Hungary, Iceland, Malta, and San Marino. That's 10 international goals in 54 matches that mattered.

4 goals in 7 European Championship starts all came in the group stage, while also missing a penalty in the Euro 2004 quarter-final shoot-out against Holland. He played all three games for Sweden in World Cup 2006, without scoring a goal.

So, do I think Zlatan is going to help Milan win anything? Well, consider the fact that he has won the league title in four consecutive seasons (Inter 2007, 08, 09, and Barcelona 2010), then consider the fact that Barcelona won the Champions League before he arrived and Inter won it after he left. Let's just say I wouldn't bet on Milan winning the Champions League this season.