Man Utd were considering Ibrahimovic coaching role before everything changed

'A box office player' – Zlatan Ibrahimovic retires from football

With Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the spotlight, it’s time to wind the clock back. Manchester United previously saw the Swedish icon shine at Old Trafford after signing the 41-year-old back in the summer transfer window of 2016. Jose Mourinho had plans to hire the legend as a coach at the club but, in the end, things didn’t quite work out.

Back in 2017, The Independent claimed United were considering offering Ibrahimovic a future coaching role at the club.

They were desperate to negotiate a new contract with the veteran at the time, having seen the Swede bag 28 goals across all competitions during his maiden year at Old Trafford.

Despite Ibrahimovic suffering a serious knee injury, Mourinho felt the striker was very much a player worth keeping.

And United were raised to raise the prospect of Ibrahimovic being a coach at the club in talks, with Mourinho believing the forward’s knowledge and experience could be invaluable to the rest of the squad.

In the end, however, the situation changed.

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Ibrahimovic opted to delay his coaching badges to focus on playing, with the forward later signing a 12-month contract extension with United regardless.

Upon returning from injury, however, Mourinho felt the icon was unable to scale the same heights as before.

Ibrahimovic would leave United for LA Galaxy in March 2018, having also fallen behind Romelu Lukaku in the club’s pecking order.

He would later explain his decision to leave Old Trafford by saying: “This was a new challenge for me and I said I would come back when I was ready and I would play exactly as I did before.

“When I cannot do that I will not continue in football because I’m not here for charity.

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“After my injury, when I was selected, I said to Jose Mourinho, ‘I do not want to disappoint you or my team-mates. You had a Zlatan before the injury and you had one after the injury and I cannot give you the Zlatan that you are used to, that’s why I will not give you this Zlatan because I’m not ready.’

“My second year at United, I was not feeling ready, I was feeling different, it was like I was starting at zero and I had to teach my knee how to play football again.

“After a while my confidence grew, I needed a new environment to feel that I was comfortable.”

It was Mourinho, too, who was interested in making Ibrahimovic a coach.

And any possibility of that happening was ended when the Portuguese lost his job at the club in December 2018.

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Mourinho had only signed a new contract at United earlier that year.

Yet his mood dipped when he was unable to acquire many of his top transfer targets as he looked to reel in Manchester City.

Harry Maguire was pursued, only for Leicester to price United out of a deal.

And it was a similar story with Toby Alderweireld, with Tottenham flatly refusing to let the Belgium international jump ship.

Mourinho’s spiralling attitude meant United endured a torrid start to the 2018/2019 season.

And though Ole Gunnar Solskjaer improved things somewhat following his appointment on an interim basis, the club still missed out on Champions League football that year.

Meanwhile, Ibrahimovic announced his retirement on Sunday after AC Milan’s 3-1 win over Verona.

The veteran addressed an emotional San Siro and said: “I have so many memories and lived so many emotions here.

“The first time I arrived here, you gave me happiness. The second time, love.

“I will be a Milan fan for life. The time has come to say goodbye to football, but not to you.”

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