Man United players still in awe of 'King' Ibrahimovic, says Grant

Lee Grant revealed Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s impact at Manchester United was so great that players were still in awe of him after his departure.

Ibrahimovic signed for United in the summer of 2016 on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain on the verge of his 35th birthday.

Despite his advanced years, Zlatan scored an impressive 29 goals in 53 appearances at Old Trafford. He even won three trophies in his debut campaign in the Community Shield, EFL Cup, and the Europa League.

Thanks to an untimely ligament injury, however, the Swede’s Red Devils career came to an early end. He struggled to regain full fitness and left for LA Galaxy on a free transfer in March 2018.

But Lee Grant, who joined United just four months after Ibra’s exit, revealed the striker’s impact was still strongly felt at Old Trafford.

“All I was hearing in that first month or so, while I was acclimatizing, were stories about Zlatan,” the Red Devils goalkeeper told the club’s website.

“His period at the club had just come to an end but the lads would talk about him constantly. ‘Do you remember when Zlatan did this?’

“‘Do you remember him getting on to such and such in training and he nearly made him cry?’ ‘Do you remember that thing he does, the kung-fu kick over his head?’ ‘Do you remember Zlatan scored that goal? Do you remember when he nutmegged that guy and absolutely took the p*ss?

“I thought: ‘Oh my God, who is this Zlatan character?’ but that was what it was like all the time.

“I got to meet him [on pre-season tour] in LA but it was literally for five or 10 minutes, just to say hello and ask how he was enjoying America and all the rest of it.

“For me, just to see how the lads interacted with him. Huge stars, well huge stars to me, looking up to the king! It was quite an eye-opener. But he seemed a really nice guy.

“I’m actually disappointed I didn’t get the chance to play with him myself.”

Ibrahimovic rejoined AC Milan in January after ending a goal-laden spell with LA Galaxy and has enjoyed an impressive return to the Serie A.