‘Lion’ Zlatan basks in heroics of League Cup
I will not be like other players, playing because they (had) a great career and name and they are still playing because they are who they are.
LONDON: Ever the showman, Zlatan Ibrahimovic seems to be reveling in maintaining the suspense.
Why accept a one-year contract extension from Manchester United now when you can sustain the ambiguity and add to the mystique?
“Let’s see what happens,” Ibrahimovic said after his free kick and header helped United win the League Cup on Sunday. “I will stop on top. If I don’t perform, if I don’t bring results, I will not play,” the Swede added. “I will not be like other players, playing because they (had) a great career and name and they are still playing because they are who they are.”
Even at 35, though, Ibrahimovic is feeding off his goals rather than his reputation.
“I’m an animal,” he said. “I feel like a lion.”
United manager Jose Mourinho certainly wants the striker to stay for another year. After Ibrahimovic produced another age-defying, match-winning display and took his tally for the season to 26 goals, Mourinho said he would not “beg” Ibrahimovic to prolong his stay.
The fans are another matter. If there’s any doubt Ibrahimovic could call it quits after a single season in English soccer, Mourinho quipped that supporters should camp outside his house. It was Ibrahimovic’s sons, Vincent and Maximilian, who urged their father to make England his next - potentially final - destination in a nomadic playing career after his Paris Saint-Germain contract expired last year.
“I had my mind somewhere else ... my mind was not here,” Ibrahimovic said as he left Wembley Stadium following United’s 3-2 victory over Southampton. “Then my kids started to bump my head and Jose called, then I am here.”
No one but Zlatan Ibrahimovic, though, is influencing the decision about whether to play on at United into next season.