With the aid of an array of sponsors, including state government, Glory are awaiting a response from the flamboyant Swedish striker’s agent Mino Raiola on a proposed five-match guest stint which would begin against the Sky Blues on November 23.
With a capacity of 60,000, Optus Stadium, which has previously hosted Manchester United and Chelsea, would provide maximum return on the sizeable investment required to bring the soon-to-be departing LA Galaxy showman to Australia.
Glory chairman Tony Sage said the ball is in Ibrahimovic’s court now, with the approach signposting the ambition of the A-League clubs in a new era of independence from FFA control.
“We’ve done our bit in securing sponsorship from government, Optus Stadium, hopefully Fox Sports and from our own (pockets) - it’s up to the player now,” Sage said.
“Does he want a break before he moves to a new club (in Europe) in the January window?
“There’s a period of 10 or 12 weeks. Does he want to play and keep fit?
“Does he want to visit Australia? He’s never been here before. It’s all down to him.
“But we wouldn’t have got this far with his agent (Raiola and an Australian intermediary) if he wasn’t interested).”
The 38-year-old, wanted by Bologna, Napoli and Atletico Madrid, has scored 52 goals in 56 MLS games for Los Angeles Galaxy and is contracted until December.
But with Galaxy out of the play-offs after their loss to Los Angeles FC, it’s unlikely they would stand in his way should the former Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona and Manchester United forward seek an early termination.
Ibrahimovic’s stint, which would conclude before the end of December, would also include trips to Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City and further games against Western Sydney Wanderers and Newcastle Jets.
“It would be fantastic for the league to have him here,” Sage added.
“Of course it would be a bit of a circus like Usain Bolt (in his doomed dalliance with Central Coast) but that was an experiment, this is a real player.
“It would simply be huge to have him here - and we’ve even contemplated moving that game against Sydney FC to Optus to make it happen.
“We’d expect a massive crowd for that - Ibrahimovic’s first game in Australia.
“The offer is out there. We’ve been bold enough to do it. We’ve been kicking a lot of goals in the last 18 months with bringing in (coach) Tony Popovic, winning the Premier’s Plate and now we’re going to be playing in the ACL.
“One thing that’s come out of this is that (rights holders) Fox Sports wanted the club owners to put their money where their mouth is, and to do more than the FFA did.
“This is one of those moves. If it doesn’t come off we at least tried to bring one of the most flamboyant and creative strikers in the world to Perth and to the A-League.
“It really hasn’t happened since Alessandro Del Piero was at Sydney FC. It just goes to show how keen the owners are (to inject excitement into the competition).
“You can imagine him, (Bruno) Fornaroli, (Diego) Castro and (Chris) Ikonomidis up front. That would be formidable.”
