‘City fans become United fans when they meet me’ – Zlatan

Oli Fisher
Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Doing his best to turn Manchester red

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Doing his best to turn Manchester red

Zlatan Ibrahimovic insists that while he has met some City fans during his time in Manchester, they were not City fans for long.

The Swede joined the Red Devils on a free transfer in the summer, and is currently enduring somewhat of a goal drought after a fine start to life in England.

However, that has not stopped the charismatic striker doing his best to convert blue to red in Manchester.

“I’ve met a lot [of City fans] but they become United supporters when they meet me!” he joked in an interview with United’s official matchday programme.

Zlatan discussed the Manchester derby, and how it compares to some of the other big games he has been involved in throughout Europe.

“I see a difference. Of course, the passion is here, people are very intense in the way they celebrate their teams and the way they shout for their teams, but I had pretty rough derbies in other countries, where it goes over the limit and becomes a thing that has nothing to do with football, which you shouldn’t arrive at,” he continued.

“I want the people to come to the stadium, enjoy the game and at the same time shout for your team. And we want to give back to them, especially when there are kids there.”

Manchester United were given a 4-0 pasting by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, meaning there is added impetus on Jose Mourinho’s men to get a much needed win against their noisy neighbours.

“We are as good as the last result we had, so we need to perform. It’s a serious thing for us but we want to give back and enjoy it with our people all around. But it’s nice also when the heat is there.”