Jose Mourinho has no doubts that Zlatan Ibrahimovic can succeed at Manchester United, insisting he is in good shape as "his body is amazing".
The former Sweden international signed for the Premier League side on a free transfer after his contract at Paris Saint-Germain came to an end.
The 34-year-old has succeeded in the Eredivisie, Serie A, La Liga and Ligue 1 throughout an incredible career, but is preparing for his first season in the English top flight.
And Mourinho says Ibrahimovic is highly motivated and in good shape ahead of the challenge that awaits him, insisting he would not have convinced him to move to Old Trafford otherwise.
“Let’s be honest, Ibrahimovic is very rich,” Mourinho said. “He’s made money all his career, he’s won a lot of things, so you only come to the most difficult championship in the world if you feel you can do it.
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“If you don’t feel you can do it, you go to America, China or stay in the French league one more season.
“So the guy wanted this one more challenge. When I told him that I had won in England, Spain and Italy and he hadn’t, that he’d done Spain, Italy and France, he thought, ‘Ahh, I want to go. I want to win every one.’
“So his motivation is high and his body is amazing.
“On Sunday, he is going to start a specific programme we have prepared before he joins our group on the Thursday, so he has five days just for him.”
The Portuguese coach has no concerns over the advanced age of the striker, insisting that his body and brain are of a much younger man.
“First of all, I know him very well. I always think there’s our age in ID terms but then there’s our real age," he added.
“For me, the real age is not the age on your ID. That’s just a date when you were born. The real age is your body, your brain, your attitude and this guy is young, his body is amazing.
“The way he grew up playing the sports he did before football, especially martial arts, he was prepared in terms of his muscles and the mental point of view in a different way to the traditional football player, his DNA, his motivation.
“I expect he is going to be very good for us.”
United have fallen dramatically since Sir Alex Ferguson's reign in charge came to an end. While the iconic manager's successors, David Moyes and Louis van Gaal, have been heavily criticised, the playing staff have not been immune from it, but Mourinho believes there is a lot of quality in the team and feels Ibrahimovic adds important leadership of the squad.
“Sometimes people say the team has no leaders, it’s this, it’s that, but what we need is everybody with the same kind of mentality," the ex-Chelsea boss said. "I like communication and push them to communicate.
“I give a lot of instruction in training. It’s difficult for me to do the same in matches so I need guys on the pitch to read the game, to understand what we want.
“Zlatan is going to be one of them and I feel already that we have guys to do the same. I don’t think we’re going to have a problem at that level.
“We have lots of quality. When I see our group in the attacking area – Zlatan, Marcus Rashford, Wayne Rooney, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Juan Mata, all the wingers we have, I think we have lots of quality in attack to produce good football and score goals.”
- Goal