Zlatan Ibrahimovic stole the show last night in the EFL Cup final as his brace helped Manchester United defeat Southampton and claim their first major trophy under the Jose Mourinho reign.
The former Swedish international was highly criticised for moving to Manchester United at the age of 35 as a lot of pundits and fans claimed that he would not be able to match the standards of the English game. But the former PSG man has proved his critics wrong as he scored his 26th goal for the Red Devils last night.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic opened the scoring last night from a beautifully executed free kick and he was the one to put the match to bed as in the 87th minute, he headed the winner from an Ander Herrera cross. Following that performance, Manchester United legend Gary Neville has said that the striker has the same aura as Eric Cantona had at Manchester United.
Eric Cantona was known for his attitude and his leadership qualities on the pitch and he boasted a lot of confidence in his game and Neville feels Zlatan Ibrahimovic is exactly the same.
"Zlatan is the leader. I know Wayne Rooney lifted the cup [despite not being on the pitch] but Zlatan is the leader on the pitch. When Cantona walked onto the pitch with his collar up he looked like he loved Old Trafford, he had the aura and confidence. Ibrahimovic is the same," Sky Sports quoted Neville as saying.
"Sometimes you hate people who have that much arrogance, but I love that because he delivers at the same time. When you're a manager and join a new club you need one player who sings off your hymn sheet. Ibrahimovic is that player for [Jose] Mourinho."
Zlatan Ibrahimovic joined Manchester United on a free transfer and he signed a one year deal at the start of the season and Jose Mourinho is confident that he will extend his stay with the club for another year at least.
Jose Mourinho used to manage Ibrahimovic during his time at Inter Milan and the Portuguese admitted that he felt sad when he left for Barcelona and said that this time if they needed to beg him to stay, the United fans will sit outside his house.
"We all believe he will stay one more season...he one time left me because he wanted to go to Barcelona [From Internationale in 2009]. That made me sad. We don't beg, but if needed, United fans may go to his house and sit there all night."
"I was his manager [at Barcelona]. I know the potential. Only a silly player comes to England with 35 years old, and with a successful career that Zlatan had, only a silly one comes here if he doesn't feel that he can do it so who better to know?"
