Mourinho was a big influence in Ibrahimovic joining Manchester United in 2016 and has unsurprisingly been linked to Tottenham as a result of the Portuguese’s arrival last week.
Ibrahimovic, who has scored 52 goals in 56 appearances in Major League Soccer since leaving Europe in March 2018, is out of contract at LA Galaxy and announced earlier this month that he is leaving the California club for a fresh challenge.
But rather than reunite with Mourinho, under whom he also played at Inter in 2008/09, the 38-year-old Swede will be heading elsewhere for the next stop on his journeyman career.
“We have the best striker in England. One of the top two, three strikers in the world,” Mourinho is quoted as saying by Sky Sports.
“It doesn’t make any sense of a striker of Zlatan’s dimensions – a striker in his 30s but that can play at any club in the world – to come to a club where we have Harry Kane.”
Indeed, when Ibrahimovic arrived at Old Trafford, there was no other peak striker at the club, with Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford aged just 20 and 18 respectively at the time, and Wayne Rooney increasingly playing in midfield.
It remains to be seen where Ibrahimovic will go. A handful of clubs in Italy have been linked, with former club AC Milan heavy favourites with bookmakers. There is also speculation about a possible return to first club Malmo back home in Sweden, or a move to China.
Mourinho also revealed that he has spoken with Christian Eriksen about his Tottenham future. The Dane is out of contract in June and has been widely expected to leave in January for a reduced fee, or in summer as a free agent.
However, there have been suggestions in the last week that Eriksen, along with Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen, who are in similar contract situations, may reconsider their respective futures at Spurs in light of the change of manager.
#thfc Mourinho reveals he’s had a further conversation with Eriksen about his future. “I’m not going to tell you what we said. Just me and him – and Amazon.”
Adds that Eriksen’s is “committed, loves the club & is one of us”.— Dan Kilpatrick (@Dan_KP) November 25, 2019
“I’m not going to tell you what we said. Just me and him – and Amazon,” Mourinho added, latterly referring to the cameras currently filming the club for a documentary series.
“[He is] committed, loves the club and is one of us.”
Eriksen didn’t start Mourinho’s first game in charge as Spurs beat West Ham on Saturday, but he did appear off the bench for the final 11 minutes plus stoppage time.
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