Zlatan Ibrahimovic Failure Should Be One of Barcelona's Biggest Regrets

Herculean feats have become almost everyday occurrences for Zlatan Ibrahimovic since he arrived at Paris Saint-Germain in 2012. Helping the French champions avoid Champions League elimination at the hands of Barcelona on Tuesday night may be a bridge too far even for him, but his return to Camp Nou should provoke renewed reflection at a club not always known for its transfer-market savvy in recent years.

It's not just the financial side of the deal that took him away from Catalonia after only a year that should make Cules bristle—Barcelona eventually sold Ibrahimovic to Milan in 2011 after a loan spell at a mammoth loss, of course, estimated at around £32.5 million, according to figures from BBC Sport. It's the sense of a missed opportunity with a player of such remarkably individual characteristics.

That, essentially, is what put the skids under Zlatan's Barca career—the sense that he was very much an individual, rather than a team player. It was a theme that reared its head numerous times in his 2011 autobiography Ik, Zlatan (later translated into several other languages and released as I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic), particularly with reference to his year at La Masia.

"I had done a lot to adapt," Ibrahimovic said in one extract, courtesy of Eurosport. "The Barca players were like schoolboys, following the coach blindly, whereas I was used to asking 'why?' I like guys who run red lights, not pedantic and strict rules."

While many of Ibrahimovic's difficulties after a lightning-fast start (he scored seven in his first seven La Liga games) were linked to Pep Guardiola's repositioning of Lionel Messi in a more central role, the feeling that the Barca environment tried to stymie the Swede's ability to express himself is hard to escape.

We shouldn't just take one man's word for it, of course. We don't need to either—the evidence was plain on the pitch. Surely the principal reason for purchasing Ibrahimovic from Internazionale (and sacrificing Samuel Eto'o to do so) was to provide an alternative for when Plan A didn't work, rather than make him fit in and be just like everybody else?

Whether Guardiola wouldn't countenance it or whether the players couldn't get used to it is almost a moot point, but you can count the times that Ibrahimovic was used to facilitate a more direct approach in 2009/10 on the fingers of one hand.

There was a goal in the Copa del Rey defeat when he collected a long Gerard Pique pass to score, and two from long, straight balls in the Champions League quarter-final first leg at Arsenal. The second occurrences were a vivid example of how it could have worked. Barca pummelled Arsenal without breaking through and found a less subtle approach did the trick.

If we fast-forward three years to the semi-final first leg in the same competition at Bayern Munich, Barca really could have done with an alternative solution. On that night, as they were battered on the counter-attack by Jupp Heynckes' side, they had been forced to play a half-fit Messi and hope—vainly—that inspiration struck.

The horror of exactly how blunt they were without their talisman in working order led them to seal the deal for Neymar, at an eventual price which beggared belief. What was also hard to absorb is that it took three years to work out that an alternative to their standard approach (however dazzling it has often been) was a must.

That's not to say Ibrahimovic could have necessarily allowed Barca to avert that beating in Bavaria. Yet it is normal to wonder if he was just the right idea of a signing at the wrong time, when the setup was just not willing to tolerate deviation from the gospel according to La Masia.

Barca have, at last, found a more pragmatic side of themselves under Luis Enrique, one which arguably makes them favourites for this season's competition. Meanwhile, Ibrahimovic can still infuriate, monopolising the ball in big games in particular. He is, however, a man who gets things done. He has also shown a capacity to be a dressing room leader, rather than merely self-serving, in Paris.

His failed transfer—and despite an acceptable season stats-wise in Catalonia it was that, given his price and the speed with which he was dispensed—asks many questions of Barca in their most glorious period. Fans will hope the days of frivolous and ill-thought-out signings (and sales) are over, but they might even afford themselves a thought of what might have been when Ibrahimovic takes the field.