LA Galaxy on Friday confirmed the acquisition of Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a free transfer from Manchester United and the Swede’s former teammates were quick to post their admiration for the charismatic striker on Instagram, with many taking a leaf out of his book to infuse some of his trademark quotes and humour into their captions.
United custodian David de Gea clearly holds Zlatan in high regard:
Red Devils starlet Marcus Rashford was effusive in his praise as well:
Helped me become a better player for years to come @iamzlatanibrahimovic all the best ⚽
A post shared by Marcus Rashford (@marcusrashford) on
Nemanja Matic, United’s midfield general, gave Zlatan some ‘advice’:
Paul Pogba, the Red Devils’ record signing, opted to post a now-famous post-match interview of the Swede with a shot but sweet caption:
You’ll be missed Lion, wish you all the best 👊🏾🦁 @iamzlatanibrahimovic @manchesterunited #mufc
A post shared by Paul Labile Pogba (@paulpogba) on
Arsenal midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who spent a season-and-a-half with Zlatan at Old Trafford before becoming a Gunner in the January transfer window, posted:
Zlatan arrived in the summer of 2016 from Paris Saint-Germain with plenty to prove despite having strutted all across Europe in a glittering career, with many claiming that the towering striker’s move to the Premier League at the age of 34 was financially-motivated.
Don’t miss: Portugal vs Egypt: Cristiano Ronaldo steals Mohamed Salah’s thunder
Twenty eight goals in his debut season followed, which brought three trophies (FA Community Shield, League Cup and the UEFA Europa League) and the critics were forced to eat their words but disaster struck towards in April 2017 as the Swede suffered an ACL injury.
Despite effectively being ruled out for the remainder of the year, Zlatan renewed his contract with United and made an early comeback in November but the same injury flared up again and with £75 million-man Romelu Lukaku leading the line for Jose Mourinho’s side, the Swede found himself spending more time on the bench and the Physio room than on the pitch.
Also read: UEFA Champions League: Early predictions for all quarter-finals
Rumours of a move to the MLS were doing the rounds for over a month and media reports filtered last week that Zlatan had agreed a move to the LA Galaxy, with official confirmation coming in on Thursday as United announced they had terminated his contract with mutual consent.