Former Manchester United forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic has spoken fondly of the time he spent with the club and says the likes of Paul Pogba made him “feel like Benjamin Button” during his time at Old Trafford.
Ibrahimovic arrived in England in the summer of 2016 and went on to score 28 goals in his debut season at the age of 35, helping Jose Mourinho’s side on their way to three trophies in the process.
How close were Ibrahimovic and Pogba at Man United? Five key things to know…
1. Ibrahimovic joined United in 2016.
2. While Pogba was in talks to join United, a dinner-date between the two sparked intense speculation the transfer would go ahead.
3. Pogba and Ibrahimovic, both represented by football agent Mino Raiola, won the Europa League and League Cup together in their first season at United.
4. A serious knee injury effectively resulted in the end of Ibrahimovic’s United career in March 2018, despite signing a one-year extension to his initial deal.
5. The pair racked up 53 goal contributions between them in 2016/17.
The enigmatic striker is now plying his trade with LA Galaxy in the MLS. In an interview with the BBC, Ibrahimovic explained his special relationship with Paul Pogba and says he misses a lot of his former Manchester United team-mates.
The ex-Sweden international said: “I miss all of them. I had a fantastic time at United. Wazza [Wayne Rooney], Michael Carrick, then the young guys that wanted to show the world who they are by playing football and they had a lot of hunger to show. I had a good time because I got to know everyone, I was the mature guy with all these guys who were not mature.
“Paul Pogba, I had never played with him before and I didn’t know him as a person. We have the same management and when I got to know him I got to find a fantastic person and a fantastic footballer, but someone who needs to be guided.
“He is a professional guy that works every game and never misses training or a game. Those are all the things that people do not see, you only get judged by what you can see on television or the 90 minutes in the stadium, that’s where you have to perform.
“When you click with someone it just clicks. The connection on the field was amazing, we helped each other very well, I needed him and he needed me. The first year at United we had a fantastic year.
“They made me feel like Benjamin Button. I was getting younger and younger then, unfortunately, I got my injury.
“The Premier League should be happy I did not come 10 years ago because it would’ve been a different story. You see all my numbers [of goals] and all of these numbers would’ve been in the Premier League. I came to the right club in United. It was the club and the shirt that I was supposed to shine in and I did it.”
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Should Zlatan have moved to the Premier League earlier?
Considering Ibrahimovic managed an impressive 17 goals in his debut Premier League season at the age of 35, the striker probably has every right to suggest that he could have dominated the English top flight had he moved there earlier in his career.
The former Sweden star has scored a lot of goals just about everywhere he’s been and that’s what has made him such a unique player.
There was never really any trouble adapting to the football in Italy, Spain, France or England and you have to wonder what he would have achieved in England if he’d joined one of the Premier League’s top clubs in his prime.
Still, Ibrahimovic is enjoying revelling in the fact he proved his doubters wrong when he joined United two years ago.
“I went against everyone and said that’s what I wanted to do. They thought I was too old, I was 35 and I made the Premier League look old. It took me three months to convince everyone who I was. That was the challenge and I never turn down a challenge.”
The post Zlatan Ibrahimovic: My connection with Paul Pogba at Man Utd was “amazing” appeared first on Squawka News.
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