Zlatan Ibrahimovic heads out for dinner with agent Mino Raiola in Manchester and confirms his future will be sorted soon
ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC and agent Mino Raiola have fuelled speculation that the Swedish striker will head back to Old Trafford after being snapped leaving a Manchester restaurant.
The forward, who bagged 28 goals for United last term, has been in rehab since damaging knee ligaments.
Ibrahimovic, 35, hyperextended his knee in United's Europa League win over Anderlecht.
And after being out for the remainder of United's campaign, including their 2-0 final win over Ajax, Ibrahimovic flew to Pittsburgh in the United States to get his knee operated on by a specialist.
But his limb looks more mobile after SunSport revealed he is planning to be back in action as soon as October.
And United are understood to have made a gentleman's agreement with him and Raiola over a new deal at the club he joined on a free from Paris Saint-Germain.
Asked by photographers about his future, Ibrahimovic said: "Huge announcement soon."
Jose Mourinho and his squad have been training at UCLA's campus in west Hollywood as they begin pre-season training and a five-game tour of the US.
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But Raiola and Ibrahimovic are thought to have had talks with United's hierarchy, with Ed Woodward flying out to Los Angeles later than the rest of the touring party.
Ibrahimovic has, meanwhile, been working hard on his rehab from the knee operation.
He was initially thought to be out until at least the start of 2018, but he has accelerated his training.
And Ibra has been toying with fans on social media with a series of cryptic - and sometimes hilarious - Instagram posts to show his determination to get back on the pitch.
Tattu is a popular restaurant in Manchester and the company have opened a second eatery in Leeds.
The chefs serve cutting-edge dim sum cuisine and have a penchant for flashy presentation, with top-notch cocktails also available.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic factfile
- Born in Malmo, Sweden, to a Bosnian father and Croatian mother on October 3, 1981
- Played in various youth teams in Malmo but was close to quitting football at age 15 to become a dock worker
- Signed his first pro contract with Malmo FF in 1996, making his debut in 1999
- Has won 11 league titles in four countries with Ajax, Inter, Barcelona, AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain - would have been two more but his Juventus titles were stripped over the Calciopioli scandal
- Helped Manchester United to the League Cup and Europa League but suffered a serious knee injury that ended his Old Trafford career
- Has scored 420 goals in 723 matches and is also Sweden's all-time top scorer with 62 goals in 116 international matches
- Three time winner of Serie A player of the Year, three-time winner of Ligue 1 player of the year and voted four times in the Uefa Team of the Year
- The only player to have scored a goal in De Klassieker in Netherlands, Derby della Madonnina and Derby d'Italia in Italy, El Clasico and Derbi Barceloni in Spain, Le Classique in France and the Manchester Derby and North-West Derby in England
- In 2016-17 he became the oldest player to reach 15 Premier League goals in a season
- Want Zlatan in your fantasy team? Sign up here
Ibrahimovic had agreed to waive any wages till the end of last season, while United gave him permission to use the facilities at the AON Training Complex in order to get himself back into shape.
And his contract officially ended on July 1, but Woodward had the option to extend it one more season, which the club are keen to do if the Swede can get fit in time to contribute to their campaign.
He is also having a statue made in his image to be erected in Sweden, as he gave a sneak preview of the sculpture on Instagram.
United have already signed Victor Lindelof and Romelu Lukaku for the combined sum of £105million so far this season.
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