Zlatan Ibrahimovic is targeting Premier League glory with Manchester United as he plots his return from a serious knee injury to “finish what I started”.
The 36-year-old former Sweden captain has been out of action since suffering cruciate ligament damage in a Europa League clash with Anderlecht in April.
“I said I will come back to finish what I started,” Ibrahimovic, who signed a new one-year deal with United over the summer and is expected to be available before the end of the year, told Sky Sports News. “Everything I build up from the first season, because obviously we won the three trophies... the ending for me was not the ending I wanted, or nobody wanted, especially after how the season went. The target is the Premier League. That is my target to finish. So everything that I started from the first season, we will finish it in the second one.”
The injury had put Ibrahimovic’s future in doubt, given he only had an initial one-year deal, but he says it spurred him on.
“In that moment when it happened it was easier for me to say that I will come back because then I had a challenge,” he said. “And the challenge was that I never had a major injury, and all these people talking that ‘it’s over’ or ‘he’s too old’ – all these doubts I had in my whole career. When that goes, it triggers me because it gives me energy, it gives me challenges, it gives me objective.”
Ibrahimovic made a big impact at United last season, scoring 28 goals in 46 appearances as the club won the Community Shield, League Cup and Europa League. “I will not walk out limping. I will walk out the way I want to walk out - even if I have to walk on water, I will do that also!”
