Ranieri: Greedy Ibrahimovic Left Juventus For The Money, Not Calciopoli

Ranieri: Greedy Ibrahimovic Left Juventus For The Money, Not Calciopoli

Claudio Ranieri has blasted Zlatan Ibrahimovic for leaving Juventus due to his desire to earn more money at Inter Milan.

Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri has taken a swipe at Inter striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic as he believes the Sweden international left the Old Lady for money and not Calciopoli.

'Ibra' spent two seasons with the Bianconeri before joining Inter in a mega money deal in 2006 after the Calciopoli scandal had come to light. The striker has always maintained he left because of what happened, but Ranieri has other ideas.

"Inter are more competitive because they have many players. Ibrahimovic gives them just another little bit of quality, and I think he would have left Juve even without Calciopoli," Ranieri told Il Corriere Dello Sport.

"I am sure of this. His deal was simply intuition. He didn't cost much and he was earning little. He wanted to earn more money."

Inter's 3-1 loss to Atalanta on Sunday sent a clear message to the rest of the chasing pack, proving that the league leaders are fallible. Ranieri is baffled by the recent drop in form, but he remains wary.

"It's strange because [José] Mourinho has always focussed on the defence. Mourinho is a great coach and I am sure they will improve, even though I'm hoping they will not," added the coach.

Pavel Nedved is set to retire at the end of the season and Bayern Munich star Frank Ribery has reported appeared on their radar. Ranieri admires the Frenchman, but states trying to prise him away from Bayern will be hard.

"Ribery? It's a nice idea if it was possible. However, I don't think it is because Bayern will not let him leave," concluded Ranieri.

Salvatore Landolina, Goal.com