Rafael van der Vaart claims that Zlatan Ibrahimovic was “jealous” of him during their time together at Ajax, with a clash of egos leading to plenty of “squabbles”.
The two enigmatic talents were always likely to butt heads in Amsterdam, with neither happy to live life in the shadow of others.
Van der Vaart was the more established star when their paths first crossed, with a product of a famed academy system already proving himself on a senior stage when Ibrahimovic arrived in 2001.
The pair would spend three years together, before Juventus snapped up the Swedish striker, with a battle for supremacy played out from the moment they were thrust into the same side.