Legends Excited By Zlatan

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is set to train with his new Manchester United team-mates for the first time following their return from China, and ahead of Saturday evening's friendly against Galatasaray in his native Sweden.

The 34-year-old striker joined the Reds on a free transfer on 1 July and was granted an extended holiday by manager Jose Mourinho, following a long season with former club Paris Saint-Germain that was extended by his participation at this summer’s European Championship in France.

After sitting out United’s pre-season trip to China, Ibrahimovic is scheduled to train with the group on Thursday. It is presumed the Reds' new no.9 will then travel with the squad to Gothenburg for this weekend’s match at Ullevi Stadium.

Bryan Robson is excited about Zlatan’s arrival and he hopes the Swede can make a similar impact to Robin van Persie, who joined United during the latter stages of his career in 2012 and famously scored 30 goals in his debut season to help Sir Alex Ferguson’s team win the Premier League title.

“Zlatan is 34 and it would have been nice to get him at 28 or 29, something like that, but the way he played for PSG last year showed he has a lot to offer still and he looks really fit,” Robson told MUTV.

“I think back to Sir Alex’s last year when everybody talked about Robin van Persie’s age and his injuries when he joined, but he won us the title with his goals that season. Hopefully Zlatan can do the same.

“He will take the pressure off Wayne Rooney as well. Every time we’ve had a bad result the excuse is that Wayne didn’t play particularly well. The pressure has always been on him to perform and Zlatan will take that away from Wayne a wee bit, so Wayne can relax and enjoy his game.

"Zlatan gave a great interview when the reporter told him that he’d previously described himself as 10 out of 10 and asked how he would rate himself now… Zlatan said 11 out of 10!"

Ji-sung Park worked alongside Robson on the club's trip to China, and the former Korea Republic captain agrees that Ibrahimovic’s confident personality will benefit the dressing room.

“Yeah I think the club needs a big character like him,” Park told us. “He has a lot of experience and then he can show his character in the dressing room and on the pitch. He can influence the players and particularly the young players. They can learn a lot from him and then show it on the pitch.”