Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has revealed how he convinced the Swedish superstar to reunite with him at Old Trafford this summer.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic made the decision to leave PSG this summer and was courting interest from a number of top clubs in Europe. The 35-year old Swede was even reportedly considering retirement. However, his former mentor at Internazionale, Jose Mourinho, coaxed him into signing a one-year deal with Manchester United.
The two-time Champions League winning manager has now revealed that he teased Zlatan about his lack of a Premier League title to motivate him to sign for the Red Devils.
“Let’s be honest, he’s very rich,” Mourinho said, according to FourFourTwo. “He’s made money all his career, he’s won a lot of things, you only come to the most difficult championship in the world if you feel you can do it.
“If you don’t feel you can do it you go to America, China, stay in the French league one more season. So the guy wanted this one more challenge.
“When I told him that I had won in England, Spain and Italy and he hadn’t, that he’d done Spain, Italy and France, he thought: ‘Ahh, I want to go. I want to win every one.’ So his motivation is high.”
Zlatan doesn’t seem to be slowing down with age, as evidenced by his prolific season for PSG in 2015-16. The 35-year-old scored 50 goals and registered 16 assists in 51 appearances in all competitions for the Parisians. The Swede is now all set to take up the role of first choice central striker at Manchester United and was recently handed the No. 9 shirt by the club.
The striker has won four Ligue 1 titles, four Serie A titles, two Eredivisie titles and a La Liga title, but hasn’t had the opportunity to grace one of the most competitive leagues in Europe. His one-year deal means that he could have just one shot at adding that honour to his already remarkable career.
Mourinho and Zlatan share a very good relationship from their time at Inter Milan, and the Portuguese manager may be the best bet to get the best out of Zlatan in England. With the three-time Premier League winning manager signing top quality talent like Zlatan, Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and going all out for Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba, Zlatan has a very strong chance of winning the league in his first attempt.
