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Arsenal’s Riccardo Calafiori says striker Liverpool signed for £23m was better than Zlatan Ibrahimovic

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Some of the greatest strikers of all-time have graced the Premier League over the years.

Indeed, the likes of Thierry Henry, Harry Kane, Erling Haaland and Wayne Rooney are all-time greats, while Michael Owen was even a Ballon d’Or winner at one point.

Speaking to Goal, Riccardo Calafiori has been comparing some greats of the game, and he’s made an interesting comparison between Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a former Liverpool striker.

Ibrahimovic is a legend of the game, but according to Calafiori, Liverpool once had a striker who was even better.

Indeed, Calafiori was asked to pick between Luis Suarez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and he gave an interesting answer here.

Soccer : Barclays Premier League - Chelsea v Liverpool
Photo by AMA/Corbis via Getty Images

Riccardo Calafiori picks Luis Suarez over Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Calafiori was asked to pick between the two legendary strikers.

Andrea Pirlo reckons Zlatan was better than Suarez, but Calafiori sees this differently.

Suarez is an all-time great striker, and there are a lot of similarities between these two players’ career paths.

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Both men initially made their names in Europe with Ajax, both have played for Barcelona, while each striker has played for one of the biggest clubs in England as well.

It’s a tough call between these two, but Calafiori reckons Suarez just about has the edge here.

Luis Suarez compared to Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Calafiori picked Suarez over Ibrahimovic, and while that is a controversial call in some ways, the stats make for interesting reading here.

These two strikers are so closely matched in so many ways, but, based on peak performance, Suarez just about edges it here.

Liverpool signed Suarez for £23m back in 2011 in what has to be considered one of the Premier League’s great bargains.

Luis SuarezZlatan Ibrahimovic
854Club games637
519Club goals405
143International games121
69International goals62
73Champions League games124
27Champions League goals48
7League titles11*
2European Golden Boots0
1Champions League wins0
40Most goals in a league season38
*Ibrahimovic won 13 league titles, but two of Juventus’ titles were stripped

Ibrahimovic has won more league titles than Suarez, but Suarez is a Champions League winner.

That said, Ibrahimovic does have a better goal record than Suarez in the Champions League, which is interesting considering Ibrahimovic never won Europe’s biggest prize.

Both players are generational talents, and while Calafiori prefers Suarez, any fan would be well within their rights to make the case for Ibrahimovic being the superior striker.