Zlatan Ibrahimovic eyeing more trophies at Manchester United after Shield win

07 August 2016 18:23

Zlatan Ibrahimovic hopes the Community Shield is just the start of a trophy-laden stay with Manchester United after his late winner secured a 2-1 victory over Leicester at Wembley.

The former Sweden striker, a free transfer signing this summer after leaving Paris St Germain, headed home an 83rd-minute decider after Foxes forward Jamie Vardy had cancelled out Jesse Lingard's fine opener.

It is the first piece of silverware for a new-look United now under the leadership of Jose Mourinho but the much-travelled Ibrahimovic is determined to ensure it is not the last.

He told BT Sport: "It feels good. First official game, we play for the trophy and we win, that's what it's all about, winning trophies.

"This is my 31st trophy, collective trophy, and I'm super happy. This is why I came and hopefully I can win much more than this."

He added of the match: "It was a difficult game, we played against a good team, the champions from last season, and you can see it's a very strong team.

"Our team is something big going on, we're at the beginning, but we begin with a trophy, so it's a good start."

The 34-year-old has played for some of the biggest clubs in Europe during his career, including Barcelona, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus, but he believes United top the lot, saying he is "honoured and proud" to play for the Red Devils.

He said of his first few months at Old Trafford: "I feel very good, the team is fantastic, good team-mates, good spirit, good professional players and the coach (Mourinho)... Everybody knows the coach, he wants to win and does everything to win.

"And the club, outside the team, is probably the biggest club I've played in. The only one I can compare is Milan, and I'm very honoured and proud to be here."

Mourinho dedicated the win to his predecessor Louis van Gaal, among others.

He said: "I want to dedicate this victory to eight persons. Seven of my players who were not selected, because they weren't but they deserved to be.

"And for the person who allows us to be here today, which is Louis van Gaal, because he won the FA Cup and without him we wouldn't be here now celebrating."

Regarding the match itself, Mourinho admitted it was an acceptable, rather than great, performance from his side.

The former Real Madrid and Chelsea boss, who is looking to implement a different style of play to Van Gaal but has only had limited time with his full squad in pre-season, said: "I think it's an important victory but we have lots of work (to do).

"I would not be ambitious if I said we had a fantastic performance, because it was not a fantastic performance. It was a possible performance for the moment of the season, some of these guys who played today had only one week of training.

"No pre-season in China, a very bad pre-season, so I think step by step we are changing, but I think it's always important to start with a trophy."

Source: PA