Ibra: Something special will happen this season

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has advised Manchester United supporters that “something special” will happen for the club this season, after being reunited with Jose Mourinho and his former team-mates during the latest training session at UCLA in Los Angeles.

The Swedish hero scored 29 goals in 53 games for the Reds before joining Major League Soccer outfit LA Galaxy earlier this year, and he was delighted to be back amongst the squad in the US.

In a personal video message to fans that was originally posted on our official Instagram story - and you can watch it below - Ibrahimovic caused plenty of excitement by hinting at great success to come in the 2018/19 campaign.

“Hi everybody,” says Zlatan. “Guess who is back watching United train? I see a lot of quality, but not quality like me but that's okay [laughs]! It is great to see the guys, to see them happy and to see them training good. Be ready for this season because something special will happen and I think the boss has something going on. We will keep that a secret! Enjoy the season, I wish you all the best and happiness.”

Ibra caught up with his former manager Jose Mourinho – who coached him at Internazionale between 2008/09 before reunited with him at United – and new coach Michael Carrick, as the first team trained behind them.

And Zlatan wasn’t the only familiar face at UCLA. Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody also dropped in, as did actor Dominic Monaghan, who has starred in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy and popular television series Lost.

Ibrahimovic made his debut for LA Galaxy back in late March, scoring twice in a dramatic 4-3 win in the LA derby, as his new team overcame local rivals Los Angeles FC. The Galaxy were 3-1 down when the Swede arrived on the pitch as a substitute, and helped level the scores with an outrageous 40-yard volley before nodding home the winner.

After the match, he said: “The fans were shouting: ‘We want Zlatan.' I gave them Zlatan.”

United face AC Milan on Wednesday night at Ibrahimovic’s new home ground, the StubHub Center, in the first of the club’s International Champions Cup fixtures.