Zlatan Ibrahimovic will not return to action for Manchester United until January, manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed.
The Sweden striker signed a new one-year contract with United earlier his week but Mourinho was quick to say that he would not be part of their Champions League group-stage squad.
Ibrahimovic has been recovering from a serious knee injury that cut short a stellar 28-goal first season at Old Trafford and Mourinho says he is looking forward to unleashing him in the second half of the campaign.
“He will be back in January,” Mourinho confirmed following a 2-0 home win over Leicester.
“When the market is open and people are spending money we don’t. But we get a player who was fundamental for us last season. He comes to give us extra quality in the second half of the season.”
Mourinho warned Ibrahimovic earlier this week that he must prove himself to be the best striker at Manchester United for a second time after they spent £90m on Romelu Lukaku, who has hit the ground running.
He said: “Zlatan knows me and he knows that I play the players that I think are best for the team. So if he comes here and he proves he is the best, he plays. If the other ones don’t give him a chance to prove that then that is life.”
