Manchester United FC will reportedly soon announce the signing of Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He is the first incoming transfer for newly minted United manager Jose Mourinho, whose hiring was also announced by the club recently. Ibrahimovic was a free agent after his previous contract expired, and as such there was no transfer fee paid by United.
BREAKING NEWS: Sky Sources: Zlatan Ibrahimovic to sign for Manchester United on one-year contract. More on #SSNHQ https://t.co/SGjkZxPgnJ
— Sky Sports News HQ (@SkySportsNewsHQ) June 3, 2016
Manchester United Sign Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Ibrahimovic played most recently for Paris Saint-Germain of the French Ligue 1 this season, where he scored 50 goals across all competitions – in 51 appearances. He confirmed several months ago that the 2015-16 campaign would be his last at PSG, although he is rumoured to have a future in management of some form at the club when his playing career is over.
At 34 years old, Ibrahimovic is now joining his eighth club, although United will be his first taste of the English Premier League. Prior to his four seasons in Paris, he had relatively short stints at Italian clubs AC Milan, Inter Milan, and Juventus, as well as Spanish giant Barcelona, Ajax in the Netherlands, and Malmo FF, the Swedish club with which he began his career.
The trophy cabinet is impressive for Ibrahimovic. He has won the Dutch Eredevisie twice, the Italian Serie A six times (although two of them have since been revoked, as part of the Calciopoli scandal that saw his Juventus team relegated), the Spanish La Liga once, and the French Ligue 1 four times. Ibrahimovic has also won the domestic cup competition in the Netherlands and France, as well as the FIFA Club World Cup in 2009 with Barcelona.
The captain of the Swedish national team, Ibrahimovic has been capped 112 times for his country, and scored 62 goals. That makes him the all-time top goalscorer for Sweden by quite a significant margin. The Malmo-born striker participated in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, as well as the 2008 and 2012 UEFA Euro competition. He will captain Sweden again at the upcoming Euro 2016 tournament in France in June.
Ibrahimovic has played under Jose Mourinho once, for two years at Inter Milan, winning the Serie A title in one. It is rumoured that Mourinho’s coming to Old Trafford was a major factor in Ibrahimovic’s decision to join United, as opposed to American side L.A. Galaxy.
Coming in as the first-choice striker for United, Ibrahimovic will likely be taking the position typically occupied by 18-year-old Marcus Rashford, forcing Anthony Martial to the side.
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