Zlatan Ibrahimovic has refused to confirm whether or not he will remain at Manchester United beyond the end of the season by insisting that he will make his decision based on the club’s ‘vision’.
The 35-year-old linked up with the Red Devils on a free transfer last summer following an extremely productive four-year spell with PSG and immediately became one of Jose Mourinho’s key players.
The Swedish veteran helped United lift the League Cup in February by scoring the winning goal against Southampton, but he hinted that he may look for a fresh challenge if the club cannot match his ambition to win further honours.
Speaking to the club’s official TV channel MUTV, he said: “We are talking. Whether we were far from each other or close to each other, there is no news. There are still talks and let’s see what will happen. I am open and nothing is done yet.
“I came here without the Champions League and I came here with the team as it was. It was not a team that was favourite to win. I still came and I came to help. I came to do what I am able to do – to make it better and to bring the team to higher views so let’s see what happens.
“I am 35. A lot of things have to be settled. It’s not like I’m 20 and I have another five or 10 years. Probably I have one, two, three years so everything depends on what you want and what the club wants, and what the vision of the club is because I said from day one I didn’t come here to waste time. I came here to win.
“If you want to win bigger then you have to create bigger.”
Aside from their League Cup success, this season has been a largely frustrating one for Mourinho and his players with United currently struggling to secure a top-four finish in the Premier League.
A major issue for United this term has been their failure to turn draws into wins as they have drawn the most matches in the whole division with 12 and more frustratingly, nine of those have been at Old Trafford.
Ibrahimovic was United’s saviour in their previous fixture against Everton, scoring a stoppage-time penalty to salvage a 1-1 draw and that strike was his 16th of the season, ten more than United’s second-highest scorer, Juan Mata, has managed.
Including assists, Ibrahimovic has been directly involved in 20 league goals this season, equating to 46.5% of his side’s overall total and as a result, he would be an extremely difficult person to replace should he depart.
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