Ibrahimovic medical ‘United’s best ever’
Manchester United have been taken aback by Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s outstanding medical results on Friday, which the club believe vindicate their decision to sign the 34-year-old on a one year deal.
The Sweden striker underwent a medical at the club where he was tested as per any new signing. Telegraph Sport understands that the club’s medical department considered his performance to be among the best they have ever seen. Ibrahimovic arrives just as Ryan Giggs confirmed his departure yesterday after a 29-year association with the club.
United believe that the former’s medical vindicates their decision to sign him on a one-year deal. There were concerns about how he might adjust to the demands of the Premier League, but Ibrahimovic has long dismissed concerns about his age and has said in the recent past that he believes he is getting better. He has the option of a one-year extension to his deal, worth around £250,000 a week, if the move is a success.
New manager Jose Mourinho will begin work formally at Carrington tomorrow. So far the expectation is that his introductory press conference will be on Tuesday morning. Although the Portuguese can change his plans, the intention is that he will address the criticism that has been aimed at him since he left Chelsea.
For Giggs, meanwhile, the immediate future is uncertain, though the 42-year-old admitted that he hoped to enter management eventually, after a three-year apprenticeship on the coaching staff. “It is a huge decision for me to step away from the club that has been my life since the age of 14. It has not been a decision that I have taken lightly. The time feels right and, although I have no immediate plans to step into management, it is where I want to be.
“I’ve been extremely fortunate in having two great managerial mentors; first in Sir Alex [Ferguson], and in more recent times, Louis van Gaal. It’s time for a new challenge.”
He added: “I want to congratulate Jose Mourinho on his appointment. There are only a handful of proven winners at the very highest level and Jose is unquestionably one of them.”
The club’s next signing is likely to be Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who needed only to agree personal terms and pass a medical yesterday after Borussia Dortmund revealed they had accepted an “enormously valuable” bid for the 27-year-old Armenian playmaker, thought to be in the region of £26 million.
Dortmund chief executive HansJoachim Watzke said of the bid: “Had we rejected it, the player would have been able to leave for free in 2017.”