Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s highly anticipated move to Manchester United on a one-year deal is the most coveted transfer since the days of Sir Alex Ferguson.
The 34-year-old encompasses the same attacking qualities and brash confidence the club and its supporters have grown accustomed to ever since the days of Busby Babes.
Furthermore, while it is unlikely that Ibrahimovic will add a ‘not arrogant, just better’ tattoo to his long repertoire of body art, it suits the cocky Swede to a tee, and therefore cannot be completely ruled out.
Not arrogant just better, is it wrong to be both? #DareToZlatan
— Squidwad (@IMwenesa) July 2, 2016
Here is why United’s estimated 660 million fans worldwide have cause to be excited, and perhaps a touch arrogant about their new signing and the season ahead.
It proves that Manchester United can still attract top-line talent
Even without the lure of Champions League football, Ibrahimovic only ever had eyes for working under Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford.
If the club website’s shirt gaffe is to be taken at face value, along with a mountain of speculation, Borussia Dortmund playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan is expected to follow suit in the coming days.
As the past few years have shown, the argument that as long as the 20-time league champions retain their financial muscle, world class players will follow is still as valid as ever.
Impressive stats! #ZlatanTime https://t.co/MxtaLztud4
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 1, 2016
Success follows the giant Swede
His very name is the first hint towards success. Zlatan’s literal translation is Golden.
After moving to Ajax from his boyhood club, Malmo, Ibrahimovic has been crowned a league champion at every club since.
The list to date is staggering, justifying the golden tag forever aligned with the Swede.
- Ajax (2x league titles, 1x KVNB Cup)
- Juventus (2x league titles)
- Inter Milan (3x league titles)
- Barcelona (1x league title)
- AC Milan (1x league title)
- Paris Saint Germain (4x league titles, 2x Coupe De France)
A similar result at Manchester United will bolster his legend status to new heights, and mark a return of the much-coined phrase ‘normal service has resumed’ to the English Premier League.
Ibrahimovic has an impressive record winning league titles over the last 10 seasons: https://t.co/ntGXJYC5xa #SSNHQ pic.twitter.com/nlLWxVGDQN
— Sky Sports News HQ (@SkySportsNewsHQ) June 30, 2016
Ibrahimovic is a great goalscorer, and a scorer of great goals
England vs Sweden, 14 November 2012.
Not only did Ibrahimovic silence the critics claiming his powers faded playing against English players by scoring that wonder goal, it was the last of his four on the night, in a 4-2 win.
In April 2016, Stoke City defender Ryan Shawcross, who made his one and only appearance for England to date on that fateful night revealed that: “I’m the butt of the joke in my family, just because the 10 minutes I had in international football was ruined by one man,” he says, closing his eyes and laughing.
“They are consistently saying that Zlatan ruined my career! I had a chance and I don’t think many other defenders have stopped him.”
Chin up, Ryan. You were not the first, and you will not be the last.
Pace never was a major feature in his vast array of powers
Suggesting that signing a 34-year-old to lead the front-line of a club as madness are perhaps correct by way of conventional wisdom, but Ibrahimovic has always defied mainstream thought.
His truly unique set of qualities make him an unpredictable, all-action goalscorer and provider for others.
Ibrahimovic’s finest moments, as can be seen above, have never been contingent on leg-speed, but strength, agility and positional sense. Despite all his off-field bravado, a team-oriented mentality – something Mourinho demands from all his stars, no matter how bright their star shines.
He talks like a Manchester United player
In his first interview as a representative of the club, Zlatan oozed the level of confidence that has evaded most in the post-Ferguson era.
“He’s [Mourinho] a winner, I’m a winner.”
“Wherever we go, we win, and we will win,” the 34-year-old said.
And who would argue with that?
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