Zlatan Ibrahimovic has admitted he enjoyed silencing his “haters” during his time at Manchester United.
The Swedish striker joined United from Paris Saint-Germain back in 2016, and spent just over a year-and-a-half at Old Trafford. During his time with the Reds, he helped the club win both the Carabao Cup and Europa League, scoring in the final of the former.
Despite claiming 13 league titles with Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan and PSG prior to making the move to United, his arrival in the Premier League was met with scepticism from some quarters. Many questioned whether Ibrahimovic would be able to deal with the rigours of English football, having joined late in his career after spending the last four years in France, which is generally seen as a less competitive league.
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His first season with United though saw him score 28 goals in 46 appearances across all competitions, while he was also shortlisted for the PFA Player of the Year award. His second season proved less fruitful after suffering from injuries before he made the move to LA Galaxy, but Ibrahimovic nevertheless enjoyed proving a few people wrong during his stay with the Reds.
"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."
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