It took Zlatan Ibrahimovic all of four minutes to silence the Manchester United supporters who believed that the club had taken a risk in signing the 34-year-old to a contract worth more than £200,000-a-week.
The striker delighted the expectant Swedish crowd in United's 5-2 victory over Galatasaray in Gothenburg when he quickly readjusted his feet to volley home Antonio Valencia’s cross, capitalising on his creativity and supreme confidence to reach a ball that was delivered behind him and open his United account, albeit with a mis-hit that struck his shin and dug into the turf before beating Fernando Muslera in the Galatasaray goal.
It demonstrated the X-factor that the recently retired Sweden international brings to a squad that desperately lacked the spark it always seemed to contain under Sir Alex Ferguson. Ibrahimovic carried himself around the pitch like he knew he was the big name on campus, the man everyone had come to watch. Of course they had, given he was playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world in his home country, but the cheers that went up every time he hit the ball only boosted his confidence even more.
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