Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has informed fans that he feels "great" ahead of what is expected to be his first game for the club on Saturday evening, expressing a desire to give supporters a "good game" in the pre-season friendly against Galatasaray.
As fate would have it, Zlatan will walk out onto a pitch as a United player for the first time in Sweden. "Everybody has been waiting for that moment," he said in an interview with MUTV.
"It's tight, this shirt.... It makes me look stronger!" 💪😂 #ZlatanTime https://t.co/VsWrrkr4f3
"There has been a lot of talk and to make my debut in my country will feel great. I think the fans are waiting for me to come back and they are waiting to enjoy not only me, but the team as well."
Ibrahimovic missed the recent short tour of China after being given extra time off following his participation at Euro 2016. The rest of the squad saw their plans heavily disrupted by the cancellation of one friendly and this weekend's outing represents an important step.
"Hopefully, we can give [the fans] a good game and, at the same time, we are in the preparation," Ibrahimovic added. "We need to keep focused, to build up the physical part and the conditioning part but we will give them what they want."
.@Ibra_official to return to Sweden as part of our 23-man squad to face Galatasaray... #MUTOUR pic.twitter.com/txRy3GiO9N
It was only a little earlier this week that the 34-year-old trained with his new colleagues for the first time but he's already managing to settle in well.
"Positive vibes," he said of his experience so far. "They seem to be good guys, quality players, they train very hard and, during the training, are very focused. The coach - he is direct, he is concrete, he says what he wants and the players are adapting. So there are only positive things.
"I believe in working hard. Not only in games but even in training. The way you train is the way you play in the games - that's my philosophy."
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