Zlatan Ibrahimovic has confessed that he enjoyed his spell in the Premier League because he came up against so many sceptics.
The Swede moved to Manchester United on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2016, and the then 34-year-old bagged 17 goals in 28 games in his first season before injuries started to take their toll.
The move was met with raised eyebrows from a handful of critics who felt than Ibrahimovic was too old to cut it in the Premier League, but the numbers speak for themselves and the nomadic striker admitted proving people wrong was his favourite part of his stint in England.
“I had fun,” Ibrahimovic told ESPN. “I really enjoyed because when I came, everybody was against it. And then in England, they didn’t like me.
“All these haters, after three months, they started to like me, I didn’t like them anymore. I like people when they hate you because then they bring out the better of you. I had fun. [It] is a great competition, [an] amazing atmosphere.
“And I’m happy I played for United, which I think is the best team in England. And I think it was the right choice to go to Manchester United.
“I think I came in a good moment. Because it’s easy to come to a club when the success is already there. It’s more difficult when you come and the challenge is different. And then if you manage to have a success, you’re part of the story. So the fans [were] great to me. And I really enjoyed [it]. A lot of things happened.”
Ibrahimovic won the Europa League, League Cup and Community Shield in his debut year before a nasty knee injury which restricted him to just five appearances in 2017/18.
He was released on a free transfer to join LA Galaxy in March 2018, where he rediscovered his fitness and earned himself a move back to AC Milan two years later.
