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Football

22nd Mar 2018

Zlatan Ibrahimovic set for Manchester United exit this week

It was fun while it lasted

Matthew Gault

It looks like he’s played his last game for the Red Devils.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic could leave Manchester United as early as this week, according to reports.

The Swedish striker was an enormous hit after arriving at Old Trafford in the summer of 2016 as a free agent following his departure from Paris Saint-Germain, scoring 28 goals in his first season as United won the League Cup and Europa League.

However, Ibrahimovic has missed almost a year of action after suffering a serious knee injury last April. Although he returned briefly before Christmas, the 36-year-old has not featured since being substituted against Burnley on Boxing Day.

According to ESPN’s Mark Ogden, Ibrahimovic is closing in on a switch to MLS side LA Galaxy, with United manager Jose Mourinho not prepared to stand in the player’s way.

https://twitter.com/utdxtra/status/976795486240825344

With Romelu Lukaku’s status as Mourinho’s first-choice centre-forward pushing Ibrahimovic down the pecking order, the former Barcelona and Juventus forward clearly wants to play regular football as he eyes a return to the Swedish national side for the World Cup in Russia.

“I miss the national team,” Ibrahimovic said recently.

“When you’ve played for 20 years and you get to see the others playing in the national team, it’s hard. But it’s hard in general when you’re injured because you want to play — both for your club and your national team.

“It’s been my life for 20 years and suddenly I’m in a position where I’m not playing every three days. But I just have to accept the situation and fight. I can’t do anything else, but train and fight and set my targets.”