Arijon Ibrahimovic by Jan Perret
Introduction:
Arijon Ibrahimovic was born on 11.12. 2005 and made his debut at the age of 14 in the U17 Junior Bundesliga in the match against SC Freiburg on 16.02.2020. The German-Kosovar started his career at SpVgg Greuther Fürth, but quickly moved to the somewhat larger rival from Nuremberg. In the youth, he was mainly used as a striker and attracted attention with an extremely good, as well as constant, goal-rate.
In the summer of 2018, the then 13-year-old made the move to FC Bayern and thus already fulfilled one of his biggest dreams: to play for FC Bayern with the number 10. Ibrahimovic cites players like Cristiano Ronaldo and his namesake as role models. The talent made the transition to the record champions without any problems and already attracted so much attention in the U15 that the step to the U17 was overdue.
Ibrahimovic is considered by far one of the biggest talents on the campus and could perhaps even make his debut next year in the U19. He also already plays for the German U16 national team.
Style of Play:
Arijon Ibrahimovic is a player of above-average height for his age, which is not publicly known but can be estimated at about 1,78. Likewise, he seems well trained for his age in terms of physique and can already assert himself against 16-17-year-olds with a partly physical style of play. Also in terms of athletics, the 15-year-old is for his age at an extremely high level and this in all areas: Coordination, agility and speed. He has got it all.
The 15-year-old can be used in several positions but seems to have found his position in the U17 team as a tendentially attacking #8 in a 4-3-3. As such, he operates in a mix of a box-to-box and advanced playmaker-role.
In general, the number 10 is a very complete player and has no significant weaknesses. Primarily, he stands out because of his speed of execution coupled with good vision and understanding of the game. Even under high pressure, Ibrahimovic makes the right decisions and is always able to execute them cleanly – everything in a matter of seconds. He always seems to react 1-2 seconds faster than the opponent. His first touch is always clean and what is also very special about him when receiving the ball is that he’s instantly trying to accelerate into open space, better said towards the opponent’s goal. He immediately tries to combine the movement after receiving the ball with it. In general, his movement sequence is always very clean and fluid.
Especially in the final third, however, “Ari” also demonstrates an excellent eye for space and plays dangerous key passes. The special thing about this is that he not only recognizes the situation and space for it quickly, but his passes also have a very high success rate. Even a few meters further forward under pressure, he plays the important last passes around the penalty area cleanly and correctly. This little detail is extremely valuable and special – his age completely excluded. That alone makes him very special.
The accuracy in the passes can also be found in the midfield, where all of his switches are well thought out and arrive with good frequency. He masters every form of passing.
He prefers to perform most of his actions with his right foot but is at a good level with his left foot. Here he could still work on himself here a bit, but this is only because he has no actual weaknesses otherwise.
His finishing is good, although not at the level of his other attributes. He could occasionally get himself into some slightly more goal-scoring opportunities starting from midfield but again, he’s not at the end of his development yet. His shooting technique isn’t ideal yet though. Another small aspect where he could improve is, that he should try to be the difference maker more often. As mentioned earlier, he’s doing a lot of things correctly and even occasionally plays goal-threatening key passes, but with this attribute, he could level up his game once again.
But also against the ball, Ibrahimovic acts very disciplined and presses the opponent in an intelligent way. His run-up is always well-chosen, the intensity well-tuned, and he also seems determined enough to really win the ball. But even so, he makes a very stable mental impression, radiates a certain leadership and appears extremely mature in person, as in his way of playing.