Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s arrival at Manchester United was a huge moment for me in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, having tipped Jose Mourinho to put the Premier League club back on top. The 2017 Rostov encounter for Ibrahimovic remains forever etched in the back of my mind.
I could not hold back my excitement at the prospect of seeing Zlatan Ibrahimovic with my very own eyes in person at Old Trafford and on the European stage.
Jose Mourinho always felt like the man who should have followed in Sir Alex Ferguson’s footsteps as Manchester United manager instead of David Moyes.
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The 2016 appointment of the ‘Special One’ felt like a course-correction period and the signing of Ibrahimovic on a free transfer felt like the icing on the cake.
To see Ibrahimovic reunite with Mourinho after their time at Inter Milan and for it to happen at United of all places felt like the puzzle pieces were all falling in place.
Ibrahimovic, who left Paris Saint-Germain in 2016 after his contract expired, had my attention from the moment that I took my seat at Old Trafford for the Rostov match.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic might not have scored against Rostov, but as a Man Utd fan, I was captivated by seeing a world-class striker
Zlatan Ibrahimovic had returned to the Manchester United starting XI for the Red Devils’ second-leg tie with Russian side Rostov in the Europa League round of 16.
The former United striker had been hit with a three-match domestic ban in 2017, but the Europa League run was the prime place for Ibrahimovic to make his return.
Jose Mourinho deployed Ibrahimovic as the lone forward in his attacking set-up against Rostov and the former PSG superstar saw out the full 90 minutes.
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Ibrahimovic didn’t score in the 1-0 win over Rostov in March 2017, with Juan Mata’s second-half strike being the difference-maker between both sides on the night.
However, the 44-year-old Swedish striker was hungry to find the back of the net and the once ruthless finisher hit the post twice in the round-of-16 clash in the first half.
Ibrahimovic played a key part in Juan Mata’s winner after playing a stunning backheel flick to the Spaniard from a low – and fast – Henrikh Mkhitaryan cross.
The ex-United superstar made it look so easy, but then again, it was Ibrahimovic making something look incredibly difficult appear simple to the naked eye.
Mata was perfectly set up to stab the ball into the back of the Rostov net and punch the Europa League quarter-final ticket for Mourinho’s men in the 2016-17 season.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s brilliance made me think of what a ‘prime’ version of him would have done for Sir Alex Ferguson at Man Utd
Ibrahimovic tore apart his critics in his first season at Old Trafford by proving that age was only a number and showing his world-class striking ability in the final third.
The former Sweden international was nowhere near the prime era of his career, but Ibrahimovic was still playing at an incredible quality at a high level of football.
When I look back to that night at Old Trafford in 2017, all I could think of at that time was, ‘Wow, imagine him playing under Sir Alex Ferguson at United?’
Eric Cantona is one of a kind for United fans, but the aura and bravado of Ibrahimovic is cut from a similar ilk as the Red Devils’ legendary former No 7.
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Mike Phelan, who was previously United assistant manager, said the Red Devils would have been keen to have had Ibrahimovic under Sir Alex Ferguson more than once.
“There [have] to be moment[s] in a career span like Sir Alex Ferguson had, [where] there were moments when you come across and think about such star players as Zlatan Ibrahimovic,” he told the Manchester Evening News, as per Football365 in 2016.
“The size of Manchester United means you want to recruit the very best. It demands it. He had to be a target.
“I am sure he was on the radar many times. But he was at top, top clubs and because of that, even though it was Manchester United, the prospect of him moving to the Premier League was always very slim because he was at the best anyway.”
The Ferguson x Ibrahimovic link-up will forever remain one of the biggest ‘what-if’ moments at Man Utd – at least in my mind as a lifelong Red Devils supporter.
As a bona fide out-and-out striker – something that seems completely lost in modern football – I could only see Ferguson knowing how to manage an ego like Ibrahimovic and tapping into all of his biggest strengths as the ruthless finisher he was as a striker.
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