Zlatan Ibrahimovic: a return to Manchester United in October?

Manchester United’s top scorer from the previous campaign, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, could be fit within a couple of months. The 35-year-old forward suffered a bad knee injury in April, and it looked as though he would not be ready to return before 2018. For that reason Manchester United did not extend his contract and released the former Sweden international on 1st July.

According to “The Sun”, Ibrahimovic’s recovery was going better than expected and he was on course to be fit again in October. The Swedish forward is one of Jose Mourinho’s favourite players, and it would be no surprise if the Portuguese manager offered him a new contract should he be fit within a couple of months.

The 35-year-old player managed to score 28 goals in 46 appearances in all competitions for the Red Devils that campaign, and despite the injury he finished as the club’s top scorer for the season. On that record he deserved at least one more season at Manchester United.

There was no shortage of offers for the goal machine. Rumours linked him with other Premier League clubs, with MLS sides and, of course, with teams in China. If Ibra recovered quickly, Manchester United looked likely to offer him a short-term deal until the end of the 2017/18 season.

Winning a place in the starting XI would be much harder, however, as the club had already signed Belgium international striker Romelu Lukaku. Then again, Mourinho could only be pleased to have a player like Ibrahimovic back in his squad.

Either way, only time would tell whether the Swedish forward returned to Manchester United or tried his luck in another country. The one major trophy Ibrahimovic had never won was the Champions League, so his priority might well be at least one more campaign in Europe’s most prestigious club competition.

The injury and the new contract

The injury that ended Ibrahimovic’s first season at Old Trafford came on 20 April 2017, in the Europa League quarter-final against Anderlecht. He suffered serious ligament damage in his right knee. Even so, the season had already brought him two trophies. He scored the winning goal in the Community Shield against Leicester City on 7 August 2016, and in the EFL Cup final against Southampton at Wembley on 26 February 2017 he scored twice, a free kick in the 19th minute and the winning header in the 87th, after Manolo Gabbiadini had brought Southampton level at 2-2. United won 3-2.

United confirmed at the end of the season that he would be released when his contract expired on 30 June 2017. The reports of a quick recovery proved well founded. On 24 August 2017 the club announced a new one-year contract, and Ibrahimovic switched from the number 9 to the number 10 shirt.

How the comeback played out

The return came a little later than the October date suggested. Ibrahimovic was back on 18 November 2017, almost seven months after the injury, replacing Anthony Martial as a substitute in a 4-1 home win over Newcastle United. On 22 March 2018 United announced that his contract had been terminated by mutual agreement.

He signed for LA Galaxy the following day and made an immediate impact. On 31 March 2018, in the first ever meeting with Los Angeles FC, a derby that became known as El Tráfico, he came on as a substitute with his side three goals down, scored twice, including a long-range half-volley and a stoppage-time header, and the Galaxy won 4-3.

Ibrahimovic later returned to Milan in January 2020 and won another Serie A title in 2021-22. He retired at the end of the 2022-23 season as Sweden’s record goalscorer, with 62 goals in 122 internationals, and without ever having won the Champions League.