Zlatan knows he can be the PERFECT 10
ZLATAN Ibrahimovic has suggested he could move into the No.10 role when he returns to the United team.
Ibrahimovic, 36, is doing ball work in training nearly seven months after he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the Europa League quarter-final victory over Anderlecht. United manager Jose Mourinho said he has a ‘feeling’ the Swede will play again this year and Ibrahimovic will wear the number 10 shirt after choosing the number nine for his first campaign.
Romelu Lukaku asked Ibrahimovic if he could inherit the number nine and the former Paris SaintGermain striker is delighted to have received the number 10, which he previously wore in France and for the Swedish national team. Wayne Rooney was United’s number 10 for a decade and Ibrahimovic is confident he will become the team’s ‘star.’
“To me, number 10 is the star,” Ibrahimovic said in a Volvo video.
“The one who makes the difference, gets noticed, wins the matches and is the leader. And I see myself in that position but it is not something that is given to you, it is just something you are, that’s just the way it is.
“To be honest, it is like a trigger for me coming back from that injury. Because I wore the number 10 on the Swedish national team and PSG. I would have worn it at Inter but I soon moved to Barcelona. I wanted it in Milan but took another number out of respect. In Ajax I didn’t have it. I feel like a ten and I stand for number 10. It will go down in history that I always had number 10.” Ibrahimovic added the knee injury he suffered against Anderlecht in April was so painful it was like swallowing his own tongue. “I tried to take down a ball with my chest and timed the landing wrong,” he added. “I stuck my legs out and landed completely wrong. The leg went backwards and then it was pulled out. I have never been hurt, but then I felt I swallowed my tongue. It was a strange feeling that I had never known before. “I told myself it’s just a bang up. But when I got up, I felt that the leg was not in balance. In the locker room they started to check the leg but without an X-ray it was impossible to say exactly what the problem was. It turned out to be a cruciate ligament injury.”
To me, number 10 is the star. The one who makes the difference, gets noticed Zlatan Ibrahimovic