Zlatan Ibrahimovic wanted to end his career in Napoli, not Manchester United

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has enjoyed a strong start to his Manchester United career

Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic wanted to end his career in Napoli, according to his agent Mino Raiola. The Swedish striker’s super agent has been shooting his mouth off that the Red Devils were not Ibrahimovic’s first choice for a move this summer, previously claiming that AC Milan were the ‘club of his heart’, and first-choice.

Speaking to Italian radio station Radio CRC, Raiola all-but confirmed that Napoli had made an approach for Zlatan this summer, saying “Was Ibra approached by Napoli this summer? The presidents who talk to me, they know that what is said remains between us.”

Raiola then dropped the bombshell that Ibrahimovic named the club where he wanted to retire, saying “All I can say is at Ciro Ferrara’s farewell game at the San Paolo, Zlatan called me and told me: “Mino, I want to end my career in Naples”

The Italian agent then explained Zlatan’s reasoning, saying “That’s because the mentality of the Neapolitans is the one closest to his, and if the league remained as it was back then, he might have done just that.”

However, Raiola did note that Zlatan is happy with being at Old Trafford for the moment, saying “We chose United recently, it was our goal, Ibra was also the club’s aim, and we’re now where we needed to be.”

Zlatan’s future at United is still up in the air

While Manchester United pulled off a coup in signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a free transfer from Paris St-Germain, the Swedish superstar only signed a contract for a single year. That allows him to talk to other clubs from the January transfer window, with Manchester United sure to be concerned with Mino Raiola already making overtures at other Italian clubs.

Most Italian clubs would be unable to afford Zlatan’s massive wages, which could have placated the fears of United fans, but given that AC Milan are under new Chinese ownership there might be some validity to the idea that Zlatan Ibrahimovic will leave Old Trafford in the summer.

The Swede has enjoyed a superb start to his career with Manchester United, scoring pivotal goals in the Premier League, but with Manchester United’s loss in the Manchester Derby followed by a loss in the Europa League to Feyenoord, there are murmurings of discontent floating within the Manchester United fanbase.