Veteran Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is believed to be close to joining Manchester United
According to Sky Sports, Swedish superstar and self-proclaimed god Zlatan Ibrahimovic could be rocking-up at Old Trafford before Euro 2016 starts.
The striker will be a free agent this summer, after deciding to leave French giants PSG.
If the veteran forward does head for United, then they are going to need to do some major structural changes at Carrington and Old Trafford so that both Ibrahimovic and Jose Mourinho can get their heads through the doors.
The ego is set to land
Just like the now sadly departed boxing legend Muhamed Ali, Zlatan Ibrahimovic can walk the walk just as well as talking the talk. Some people have egos that their talent cannot justify, but Ibrahimovic is not one of those.
At club level Ibrahimovic has won every trophy there is to win in the game. He has scored goals in Eredivisie, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue One, as well as the Champions League. Quite simply he is one of the greatest modern day European strikers.
However because of his need to talk about his own ability and use his name in the third person tense the striker’s sublime skills are often underrated and dismissed.
Still highly talent in the twilight of his career
At 34-years-old of age Ibrahimovic is still finding the back of the onion bag. His latest season was the most successful in the history of his career, as the forward scored an incredible 52 goals in 53 appearances in all competitions for French giants PSG.
For any player that is an impressive total, but for a player of his age it’s even more impressive. Some will decry the quality of Ligue One and try to say that PSG are playing against inferior opposition. However, five of his goals came in the Champions League, so I would say the tally is still impressive.
Age does not mean much to Ibrahimovic. His successful career so far has been based on natural ability and football intelligence. If it would have been based on pace, then he would have to worry about reaching his mid-thirties.
For all his attributes, pace was never his greatest. His clever movement and aforementioned intelligence has made sure that a lack of pace was never an issue for the former-Barcelona star.
In true Ibrahimovic style he believes he is just warming up, while some people believe he probably should be sitting at home with his feet up at his age.
Ibrahimovic will be looking to prove his few doubters wrong at Euro 2016, where he is odds of 40/1 to win the Golden Boot with Sweden. Those odds are slightly long considering the fact that Ibrahimovic fired home 11 goals in just ten qualifiers.
Manchester United next for the striker
It seems that Ibrahimovic is set to grace the Premier League with his presence next season, which is very kind of him. He has conquered Eredivisie, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue One in true Zlatan style and the English top-flight looks set to get the Ibrahimovic treatment next season.
The presence of Ibrahimovic and Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford can only make the Premier League a more interesting place. Football is losing its characters, as footballers become more and more like robots trained to do the same thing.
Character is being knocked out of young players, so it has led to less interesting footballers and in turn has led to a less interesting game. Nobody was ever going to have the audacity to take on Ibrahimovic and his big personality.
With egos as big as Mourinho and Ibrahimovic, surely there would be a clash, but no they seem to have a long-standing bromance from their days together at Inter in Italy.
Despite Ibrahimovic coming to the end of his career, the Swedish striker is box office and will be a good short-term signing for United. He will be a player that the likes of youngsters Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford can look up to and learn from.
For all the rubbish spouted about Zlatan Ibrahimovic in his career there remains one simple fact, he is a winner. Wherever he has gone he has been successful, won trophies and scored goals.
Manchester United have been struggling to rediscover a winning mentality in recent years and he could prove to be a masterstroke of a signing for the Red Devils this summer.
Would Zlatan Ibrahimovic be a good signing for Manchester United?
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