Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic thinks he has conquered England with his individual success but has he truly done that so soon?
The short answer, unfortunately for his haters, has to be a resounding yes. At the ripe old age of 35, Zlatan the Magnificent has come in to England and the Premier League, often called the toughest league in the world by supporters because of its competitive nature, and has been a star.
The Big Swede has 13 goals in 19 Premier League games this season which has him tied for second with Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez behind Chelsea FC’s Diego Costa who has 14. All of the other players in the top 10, save for Sunderland’s Jermain Defoe, are under 30 years old and have more than a year of Premier League experience under their belts.
There were doubts as to whether he could still hack it in such a physical and pacey league at his age but he has silenced the haters and critics with bundles of goals.
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Many of his doubters, usually ones from England, would claim that Zlatan Ibrahimovic was overrated because he had found all of his success in so-called “lesser leagues” like Serie A, La Liga, and Ligue 1.
While that alone is a silly statement it becomes even sillier when you take a closer look at his numbers which include 315 league goals in 503 appearances and 62 goals in 116 appearances for Sweden.
On top of the gaudy goal numbers, Ibrahimovic has won 13 domestic league titles in four countries, the Netherlands (2), Italy (6), Spain (1), and most recently in France (4). Simply put, the man is a winner and one of the greatest goalscorers in world football history.
Now that he has “conquered England”, Ibrahimovic is turning his focus towards yet another league title, as quoted by Sky Sports:
"“I’m chasing the head trophy – the Premier League. That is my aim….I try to help the team and try to do what I’m best at – scoring goals, playing good and creating chances for my team-mates. As long as I can do that, I know I will help my team. The same thing with them, they help me the way they can for the team. I have no individual targets because that I did already, after three months in England. I conquered England – it took three months.”"
With a little less than half the season left to play, Manchester United sit 10 points behind leaders Chelsea and three points outside the top four so a 14th league title is not impossible but unlikely for Ibrahimovic. This was somewhat expected as Jose Mourinho rarely wins a title in his first season with a club but his recruitment of Zlatan has been a masterstroke.
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According to ESPN FC, it appears that Manchester United intend to extend Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s contract for a second season so even if his current campaign ends in individual conquest and not a team one, he will have another chance to terrorize Premier League defenses in the 2017-18 season.