Zlatan Ibrahimovic has told Manchester United he is keen to join them but wants €15m (£11.3m) per season to do so. José Mourinho is considering making a concrete offer for the out-of-contract 34-year-old but has not made a final decision yet.
Reports that Ibrahimovic, who is leaving Paris St-Germain this summer after four years and four league titles, have already agreed a contract are not correct as both manager and player need more time to consider their options.
Mourinho has yet to finalise his contract to take over at Manchester United while Ibrahimovic has had a very lucrative offer from LA Galaxy as well as clubs in the Middle East.
It is understood talks between Mourinho and Manchester United are continuing after his agent Jorge Mendes met executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward in London on Tuesday.
Image rights
Intricacies such as image rights are believed to be being worked on, but it still appears a case of when rather than if the deal is announced. An announcement is not expected until today at the earliest, however.
Ibrahimovic’s preference would be to join Manchester United and there have been contacts between the two parties, but neither side are in a rush to sign anything for the time being.
Ibrahimovic's agent, Mino Raiola, has told United that Ibrahimovic will want at least in the region of £220,000-a-week to sign for the club. Captain Wayne Rooney is the highest earner at the moment on £300,000 and it is not thought that Ibrahimovic's wage demands will be a stumbling block, especially as he would join on a free transfer.
Special
Mourinho and Ibrahimovic have worked together before, at Inter during the 2008-09 season, and the Portuguese later said of the striker: “A player who gave me as much as Ibra will always be in my heart.
“He did a lot for Inter and Inter did a lot for him. I like seeing Ibra. I greet him whenever I get the chance to. He is very special, he is one of the best strikers in the world.”
Sources close to Gary Neville suggest the England coach and former United defender would not be interested in returning to the club as part of Mourinho’s backroom team, but the incoming manager is sure to want to bring in his own men.
There has been no confirmation on the fate of Louis van Gaal’s backroom team but it has been widely reported that assistant coaches Albert Stuivenberg and Frans Hoek, as well as performance analyst Max Reckers, have left. Guardian service
