Rejoice Manchester United fans! The mighty Zlatan Ibrahimovic has signed for the club after confirming the move on his social media accounts. The regal forward left PSG after scoring 156 goals in 180 games in four seasons and won numerous trophies.
Apart from Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, no forward in the world has as many admirers owing to his expressive and combustible nature. Zlatan is such an incredible player that even when he was a teenager, he told renowned manager Arsene Wenger that he doesn’t do auditions upon being asked to give a trial.
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At the age of 34, he isn’t getting any younger but Ibrahimovic has been amazing for both club and country. The striker recently retired from international football after Sweden got knocked out of Euro 2016.
His retirement will come as a boon as the striker will now solely focus on Manchester United. The big Swede will walk right into a starting lineup of a team that scored just 49 goals in the Premier League.
Here are five things that United fans can expect from new signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic:
1) Goals
The most important thing that the United fans can expect from the giant Swede is plenty of goals. Goals seem to be the easiest thing that the forward does, scoring excellent goals day-in-day-out. He scored 51 goals for PSG in his final season at the club, with 38 goals coming in just 31 Ligue 1 games.
To put that in perspective, all strikers in United including Wayne Rooney, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Memphis Depay scored just 26 goals amongst them. It is clear that United were lacking the clinical nature of a pure and experienced striker.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is just like fine wine; who gets better with age. He has also scored more than 10 goals per season for the last 10 years, proving his consistency as a forward. Ibrahimovic has a knack for scoring beautiful goals, like his stunning overhead from outside the box against England.
One thing is for sure, United fans can expect a goal fest next season.
2) Quirky quotes
Zlatan is wild, uninhibited, expressive and combustible. This has led him to become one of the most controversial and interesting characters at the same time.
The forward is one of the most quotable sports personalities in the world and he knows no fear. As the great man once said: "Swedish style? No. Yugoslavian style? Of course not. It has to be Zlatan-style." When Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger offered a young Zlatan a trial, he replied: "Zlatan doesn't do auditions.".
When asked about his tense relationship with the then Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola, the giant Swede said: "When you buy me, you are buying a Ferrari. If you drive a Ferrari you put premium petrol in the tank, you hit the motorway and you step on the gas. Guardiola filled up with diesel and took a spin in the countryside. He should have bought a Fiat."
Upon his unveiling as a Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) player, he was quizzed about his abode, to which the forward said: "We're looking for an apartment. If we don't find anything, then I'll probably just buy the hotel."
The quirkiest quote was an exchange with a reporter during a World Cup qualifier. It went as follows:
Zlatan Ibrahimovic: "Only God knows who will go through."
Reporter: "It's hard to ask him."
Ibrahimovic: "You're talking to him."
3) Entertaining the footballing world
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is known as one of football’s greatest entertainers. From making fun of his teammates, joking with the reporters and kicking teammates, this man’s done it all. During a campaign launched by Nike under the name as #DaretoZlatan, the Swede was quizzed about what gave him the idea of scoring the overhead goal against England, the man replied: “Should I score an amazing goal? Of course.”
“Should it be an overhead kick? Most definitely. Will it go in? It already has.” This is how crazy Zlatan is.
He was once asked by a Twitter user if he’s mad, the Swede replied: “Am I mad? Would a sane man try a 32-yard overhead kick in an international match?” He also said, “Self-belief leads to self-confidence. Self-confidence leads to self-belief which leads to self-confidence again.”
Zlatan is famous for making fun of his teammates and making them look silly. He is also a black belt in Taekwondo to which he uses to full effect both on and off the field. He is famous for kicking his own teammates during training and after matches. Below is a video of Zlatan being Zlatan!
4) Incredible performances under Jose Mourinho
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Jose Mourinho are a pair made in heaven. The two shared the dressing room for only one season before the striker was sold to Barcelona, where he shared a tumultuous relationship with the current Manchester City Boss Pep Guardiola.
Their relationship turned so sour that Ibrahimovic swore that he would beat up Guardiola publicly if he wasn’t sold to AC Milan. The pair didn’t speak for months and one evening, Ibra decided enough was enough and flung a training kit box across the room.
The same cannot be said about his relationship with Jose Mourinho, where Ibrahimovic even went as far as to say that he would kill for Mourinho. The Portuguese manager also said: "A player who gave me as much as Ibra will always be in my heart. He did a lot for Inter and Inter did a lot for him. I like seeing Ibra. I greet him whenever I get the chance to and I wish him all the best - except when he plays against me.
“He is very special; he is one of the best strikers in the world."
Zlatan followed suit and said: "We worked together for one year at Inter. The feeling was great between us and my only regret is that we were together for only one year."
The Swede even said: "That guy says whatever he wants. I like him. He's the leader of his army. But he cares, too. He would text me all the time at Inter, wondering how I was doing. He's the exact opposite of Pep Guardiola. If Mourinho lights up a room, Guardiola draws the curtains. Mourinho would become a guy I was basically willing to die for."
Some say Mourinho is the main reason why the Swede joined United in the first place.
5) Impact on the team
Bringing Zlatan to Manchester United can have both positive and negative impact on the team. On one hand, the former Paris Saint-Germain man has an incredible tendency of overshadowing his teammates both due to his performances and overall nature of being the one who runs things in the dressing room.
He has proved to be more than a handful due to his combustible nature, often getting into heated arguments with teammates and even coming to blows, like he did with teammate Mido and Oguchi Onyewu.
This can be a negative impact on the team as United are already in a bad state after having gone for three seasons without winning the Premier League. Another thing is that the signing of a 34-year-old striker could mean the end of prospects like Marcus Rashford, who had an incredible year.
Rashford will most likely not feature remotely as much as he did last season due to having Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial ahead of him in the pecking order. On the flipside, having a player who is a proven winner can also mean good things for the club as it is in dire need of leadership.
He adds a different angle to United’s attacks and is probably the answer to their goal-scoring woes. One thing is for sure, the club will score a plethora of goals with Ibrahimovic spearheading the attack, helping Mourinho redeem himself by winning another Premier League trophy, this time with United.
