Zlatan Ibrahimovic set for Manchester United return before the end of the year

Despite currently being a free agent, it looks increasingly likely that Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be playing for Manchester United again in the not-too-distant future.

The former Swedish international ruptured knee ligaments towards the end of last season at a time when he had yet to agree a one-year extension to remain at Old Trafford. With some reports suggesting the 35-year-old faced a nine-month spell on the sidelines, it soon became clear that United would not be offering Ibrahimovic a new deal. Ibrahimovic's United contract expired on July 1, but he continues to use the club's training facilities as he recovers. With Jose Mourinho recently confirming that the door remained open for him to return to United on a short-term deal, it now seems inevitable that the former Paris Sant-Germain striker will be seen again for the Old Trafford club. Speaking on United's preseason tour of the US, Mourinho's latest comments have again suggested that Ibrahimovic will be back in action for the Europa League winners next season. "We spent big money on a striker because, with strikers, you either spend [big] or you don’t get," Mourinho said of United's deal for Romelu Lukaku. "And we spent because of what happened to Zlatan and we cannot allow ourselves to be without an important, strong striker for the first six months of the season." Although his comments suggest that Ibrahimovic won't return for the first six months of the season, a report from The Telegraph claims it's actually expected that he could ink a new United deal as early as December with a return to action expected soon after.