I refused to pass the ball to Man Utd cult hero Zlatan Ibrahimovic in training – he ate me alive

ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC has always been a big time player and has had the big time ego to match.

But the one thing you can always say about the footballing icon is that he had the ability to match his talk.

GettyZlatan Ibrahimovic is well known for his feisty character[/caption]

GettyItalian youth prospect Marco Nasti recalled Ibrahimovic’s reaction when he didn’t pass to him in AC Milan training[/caption]

There are plenty of stories about the former Manchester United and PSG star from his playing days with some of the world’s best players recalling their time playing alongside the super star.

And now Italian youngster Marco Nasti has revealed what it was like to train with one of the greats of the game when he was just a teenager.

The 20-year-old, who is currently on loan at Serie B side Bari, trained with Ibrahimovic while he was with his parent club AC Milan.

And speaking to Gianluca Di Marzio he recalled getting “eaten alive” by the Swedish legend after refusing to pass to him.

He said: “We all know Ibra, and we all know that he could cause a scene. Once, he ate me alive in training because I didn’t pass him the ball.”

But he admitted that Ibrahimovic‘s mentality was the reason he achived so much in his career.

He explained: “But he had a winning mentality, he did it to encourage you. The guys who came up to the first team from the Primavera weren’t too cocky around him.”

Zlatan Ibrahimovic hung up his boots earlier this year at the age of 41 after a career that most of the young talents coming through the ranks at Milan will dream about recreating.

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He won 12 league titles across four different league’s and topped the list of goalscorers in five of those 12 seasons.

Nasti will be hoping he can come close to replicating even half of that success, but has got off to a good start since joining Bari.

The Italian has three goals already this term and has become a regular feature for his loan club.

But Milan have already got some pretty big talent in their ranks when it comes to young centre forwards after Francesco Camadra made his debut for the European giants earlier this week at just 15-YEARS-OLD.