Promotional appearances for commercial partners are a necessary evil for Premier League stars these days.
Sponsors pay obscene amounts of money to the top clubs to display their logos, get exposure to their millions of fans – and get access to the star players who are contractually obliged to help promote the products and services.
This means a set number of filming days every year when the players must be on hand to record idents and promotional material. We imagine these can get a little boring – especially for millionaire footballers who are not used to hanging around and doing, you know, work.
And it seems Zlatan Ibrahimovic (shockingly) has no patience for such things.
As his team-mate Henrikh Mkhitaryan tries manfully to record his line “Hello Korea. Thank you for supporting us and catching our match live with Chevrolet” with a modicum of emotion, Zlatan fires the ball straight at the advertising hoarding behind him, before running off like a small child who has just rung the door bell of his cranky neighbour.
While it wasn’t a scorpion-kick goal like @HenrikhMkh’s, this kick from @Ibra_official still left us smiling…actually, laughing 😂😂😂 #MUNMID pic.twitter.com/uzlp51qQa5
— Chevrolet FC (@ChevroletFC) December 31, 2016
It’s not entirely clear what Zlatan was actually meant to do – was he meant to chip it for Mkhitaryan to catch it after his line? Was he meant to be kicking it in a different direction entirely? We’ll probably never know (given that we’re not in Korea so probably can’t watch the finished clip).
Meanwhile, the Swedish super star has picked up the PFA Fans’ Premier League Player of the Month award for December, beating Liverpool’s Adam Lallana in second, and Chelsea’s Cesar Azpilicueta in third.
The former PSG man scored six goals from seven matches in December – and says he is proving those who thought he was too old for the Premier League wrong.
“It gives me a lot of energy, trust me,” the 35-year-old said. “A lot of energy, because they get paid to talk and I get paid to play with my feet – that’s how I enjoy it.
“I wanted to come when everyone thought I was over [the hill]. I’m super-happy and I feel good.”
