Zlatan will have to kick his heels
HOPEFULLY HE’LL PLAY IN KNOCKOUT PHASE United boss pays tribute to Rooney following departure.
Jose Mourinho does not know when Zlatan Ibrahimovic will return to action, but he has ruled him out of Manchester United’s Champions League group games.
Ibrahimovic, 35, rejoined United on a one-season contract earlier this week, four months after undergoing career-saving knee ligament surgery.
But while the Swedish striker has been busy talking up his return on social media, Mourinho does not expect to be able to call upon him until next year.
“He will not be ready for the group phase of the Champions League. I don’t think there is any chance of that,” said Mourinho, whose side face Benfica, Basel and CSKA Moscow in Group A.
“I’m not thinking Zlatan can play any part of the group phase. Hopefully he can play in the knockout phase, but for that we need to finish top two.
“He will be an extra man for us in the second part of the season. When I say second part, we say January after Christmas, when the transfer window re-opens, but I have no idea at all.”
Ibrahimovic, who scored 28 goals last season, had been linked with a move to Major League Soccer and Mourinho said his desire to rejoin United showed his ambition was fully intact.
“It shows two things for me: it shows me the dimension of the player and the club,” the United manager said at the club’s training centre in Carrington, west of Manchester yesterday.
“It would be very easy for him to say goodbye. He had success at Man United, goodbye. He doesn’t do that. He still wants to play football at the highest level.
“And a club like Man United in my opinion has to show how big it is in details and this is a big detail of a player that gets injured in the Man United shirt, fighting for Man United.
“The club has to be there for him and I’m really happy with club and player.”
Mourinho paid tribute to former United captain Wayne Rooney, who announced his retirement from the England team this week, and revealed he was in touch with the striker on the eve of his announcement.
“He told me the night before,” said Mourinho. “I understand his reasons.” – AFP