There isn’t an MLS team in Miami yet, but that isn’t stopping David Beckham from recruiting stars to play for it.

Just a few weeks after an ownership group fronted by Beckham successfully purchased a stadium site in Miami, the former Manchester United star gave an interview with Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet and made it clear: He wants Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Here’s the transcript (translation via Guardian):

“We have received permission to build an arena and it will take three years … maybe two, at best. “If Ibrahimovic is still active, then I want to buy him right away. He is a physically magnificent specimen, so it’s entirely possible. Who does not want a man who is prepared to kill to win?”

Ibrahimovic is having an incredible season at age 34, and if the Swedish star’s confidence is any sign, he’ll be an effective player until he’s 50 years old. Then again, if Ibrahimovic’s confidence was any sign, he’d have already propelled himself to the moon via his good looks and swagger sauce. (I’m not ruling out the chance that this has happened.)

He’s also gone on record saying he’s interested in MLS, so this would seem like a good fit on paper.

It’s nice that Beckham is moving forward with his plans for an MLS team, and it’s good that he’s targeting stars to be a part of that team. But Ibrahimovic will be 37 years old most likely when the Miami team gets off the ground, and as Steven Gerrard’s mediocre season in Los Angeles or NYCFC’s entire year just showed us, signing aging stars isn’t necessarily the key to instant success.

Miami will have to build with youth, and implement an infrastructure to make sure the club has success going forward. Signing old big names might sell tickets, but the best way to sell tickets is to win, and Miami needs to make sure they’re run like a smart soccer team and not a marketing company.

(Thanks to Guardian for sharing.)