AGE IS NO BARRIER FOR ZLATAN, WARNS JOSE
JOSE MOURINHO warned rivals to forget Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s age and claimed that the striker is at the peak of his powers after he hit the third goal in a commanding victory against Bournemouth. A lingering question over whether Ibrahimovic, 34, could still perform in the Premier League has been answered early on by two goals in his first two Manchester United games. Ibrahimovic followed scoring the Community Shield winner eight days ago with a 30-yard effort into the bottom right corner, after Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney had put United ahead in what was potentially an awkward season opener. ‘You have to forget the passport, that he is 34 years old,’ declared Mourinho. ‘The body and mentality are not those of a 34-year-old guy. He’s at the top of his qualities.’ Mourinho also indicated that the Swede’s near-mythical status in the game is helping the younger players in his squad. ‘The first thing I can tell you is that his table for breakfast and for meals is surrounded by the young ones, the kids,’ he said. ‘Luke Shaw, Marcus Rashford. These are the guys who are with him at the table. He knows what he can be for them.’ Mourinho, whose side lost a second-half goal to Adam Smith, admitted to having some pre-match nerves, returning to the Premier League once again after being sacked by Chelsea in December last year. He said: ‘To be honest, yes a little bit before the game. For somebody with so many years in football, to have that feeling is normal. I never forget coming with Real Madrid to Old Trafford and asking Sir Alex Ferguson if he was still nervous: “Yes.”. I understand it never changes. Experience helps with many things but it’s good to have a little feeling. ‘Everybody knows that we are going to fight for the title. Win it or not win it is a different story. We don’t hide in our words or our approach, so we are going to fight until it’s possible. ‘If one day it’s not mathematically possible then we’ll think about top four.’ Rooney reiterated his manager’s bold stance. ‘We have made a real statement this season,’ he said. ‘Bringing Zlatan in, Paul Pogba, Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to improve our team. We also have a manager who has won trophies everywhere he has been. So there is excitement not only with ourselves but with fans and we can sense that.’ Rooney is one player under threat of losing his regular first team place by the arrival of world-record signing Pogba, but he insisted: ‘I have nothing to prove to anyone.’