EFL Cup: I’m an animal, a lion – Zlatan Ibrahimovic

“But I think at the same time it is good for us to realise how football is, and we need to adapt to it”.

“People who know me from the locker room know that I train very hard”. I think when you get used to winning, when you don’t want (to) win, you miss it.

‘We had Paul under a three-year contract, and it had a one-year renewal option which we were eager to sign. “You know that we normally play two different systems – sometimes we play with two midfield players and a number 10 if you want to call it (that)”. I take this because I’ve won it four times.

Southampton were slightly fortunate to keep 11 players on the pitch when Jack Stephens caught United’s Anthony Martial with a lunging tackle shortly after they had fallen further behind, escaping with a yellow card. You will always fight against big clubs with more reputation and with more Champions League competition.

It was a pivotal moment that sparked a blistering run of form that took Chelsea to the Premier League title – a feat they repeated a year later. “It has nothing to do with that”.

“For me, or the club?”, he replied. We shall celebrate this achievement, he says, but let us not dwell on it. I will stop on top. United has lost only one game in its last 26 but remains stuck in sixth in the Premier League (though only two points off fourth).

Unlike most swaggering players, Ibrahimovic backs up the hype with performances on the field.

Ibrahimovic believes he is improving with age. “I predicted things – what I predicted is what I’m doing now”.

The ever-confident 35-year-old said: “I look good”.

“It doesn’t matter, I bring the trophy home, ” he replied when asked if Southampton had been the better side.

“I’m an animal”, he said.

“It is special because I was written off”.

Mourinho knew that he would need players with great mental fortitude and strong character to make a difference to a group of players which often looked rudderless under Van Gaal. “I’m enjoying it in England”.

Manchester United star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has said that he never wanted to join the Red Devils during the last summer transfer, but claimed that his kids masterminded his move to Old Trafford.

For clubs like Southampton, the opportunity to win trophies don’t come along often, even in their peak eras. The reality is also important to me: I put a lot of pressure on myself. “What I predicted. That is exactly what I am doing”.

Here is how the Saints may line up for the EFL Cup final.