Wednesday 26 April 2017 15:50, UK
Jose Mourinho says he does not know if Zlatan Ibrahimovic has a future at Manchester United.
The 35-year-old has been as prolific as ever during a superb first season at Old Trafford but the possibility of him returning for the 2017/18 campaign has been thrown into doubt after he suffered a serious knee during the Europa League quarter-final against Anderlecht last week.
Ibrahimovic suffered "significant knee ligament damage" but has promised that he "will come back even stronger".
And Mourinho is convinced United's top scorer will "fight" to return to full fitness and form.
But when asked about Ibrahimovic's future on Wednesday, Mourinho said: "The future is a big surgery, a long period of recovery.
"But the future is also in the end a very strong guy, a mentally strong guy. He wrote immediately on his social media he will stop when he wants, not when people think.
"So it looks to me that he's not going to give up, he's going to fight, and I'm really pleased about that. This is the Zlatan I know.
"I told him, 'You fought all your life since you were born'. I don't see a reason not to fight now."
Ibrahimovic's one-year deal with United expires in the summer and Mourinho says it is not the time to speculate on whether he will be back next season.
"I don't know, I don't want to know, I'm not interested in it, I don't care about it," he said.
"I just want the difficult surgery to go well and, of course, we think he is in fabulous hands and will recover from the injury and prepare himself mentally for the next step.
"I think the next step will be what he wants. I have always said he is much more important than myself and what I want.
"I always want the players to be happy, to choose their future, but now, before such an important surgery, I think it's a waste of time to speak about what next."
