Daily Mail

You will not be my first choice, Jose tells Zlatan

- By JACK GAUGHAN

ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVI­C’s return to Manchester United came with a warning as Jose Mourinho told the striker to forget about being an automatic first choice.

Ibrahimovi­c signed a deal until the summer on significan­tly reduced wages, with greater emphasis placed on appearance bonuses.

Mourinho will include the Swede in his 25-man Champions League squad next week in the unlikely event of a recovery from the cruciate knee ligament injury he suffered in April.

But Ibrahimovi­c, who hit 28 goals last year, might be playing second fiddle behind both Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford when he returns after Christmas. ‘Zlatan knows me. And he knows that I play the players that I think are the best for the team,’ Mourinho said yesterday.

‘If he comes here and he proves that he is the best, he plays. If the other ones don’t give him a chance to prove that, that’s life. I always try to be honest with my players. Maybe sometimes I don’t do the correct things. But I always try.

‘Zlatan is going to arrive into a made team, mid- season with the team playing in a certain way and with players having what I call the functional links in the dynamic of the team. We are going to be a better squad. He is one more option, one more player that can play (as a) No 9 or 10.

‘Probably, in January, I would have been knocking on Ed Woodward’s door asking for a striker and (now) I don’t need to. I have one of the best in the world.’

Mourinho, who admitted United’s transfer business is finished after missing out on Inter Milan’s Ivan Perisic, suggested the club were almost duty bound to offer Ibrahimovi­c fresh terms.

‘A club like United, in my opinion, has to show how big it is in the details,’ he added. ‘This is a big detail. A player who gets injured in a United shirt, fighting for United, the club has to be there for him.’

Mourinho claimed he holds no hope of the 35-year-old starring in the Champions League group stages, where United will face Basel, CSKA Moscow and Benfica, a draw of which he is wary.

‘We’re in this group, like the Porto group, where everyone can win or lose. We are going to share points. You’re not going to see four or fivenil like in others, or 14 points and zero points. It’s a dangerous group.

‘If you go to the recent history, United lost against Basle and couldn’t beat Benfica.’

Meanwhile, Paul Pogba was named UEFA Europa League Player of the Season, beating Ibrahimovi­c and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to the award.

Pogba started all 15 games and scored three times to help United lift the trophy for the first time.

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