FC Copenhagen winger Akinkunmi Amoo has revealed the advice given to him by Zlatan Ibrahimovic while he was at Hammarby IF.
After impressing for Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets at the 2019 U17 World Cup in Brazil, Amoo signed a four-year contract with Hammarby IF, a Swedish club co-owned by the legendary AC Milan striker in June 2020.
He made 48 during his time at Bajen, scoring 13 goals and assisting 6 times. He helped the club win the Swedish Cup in 2021 and was snapped up by Copenhagen in January this year in a deal worth over €4m.
Amoo, now 20, has stated that meeting Ibrahimovic remains one of the biggest things to happen to him.
“Meeting Ibrahimovic remains one of the biggest things to have happened to me,” the Nigeria international told GOAL.
“It was a big surprise to me because he was one of my best players then on PlayStation and Fifa Video Games.
Amoo went on to reveal the piece of advice he received from Ibrahimovic and how those words are shaping up his career.
“After playing on a Saturday, he paid a surprise visit to our training ground on Sunday morning to my astonishment.
“We had a lengthy conversation and his advice really helped me a lot during my time at Hammarby and they are still useful in Copenhagen.
“He told me ‘Amoo, I know you are small in size but what you have in you is so big. The fans love you and the technical crew is there for you also. Don’t be distracted, focus on your football and you will excel.’
“Another priceless thing he told me then was: ‘Don’t be intimidated and remember that only you can give yourself confidence. Make sure you believe in yourself all the time’”.
Amoo won the Danish Super League with Copenhagen last season. He made two appearances for the club before his season was cut short due to injury.
