Zlatan Ibrahimovic mocks his critics as in-form Manchester United striker prepares to face West Ham

Zlat's how you do it | The 35-year-old has scored 17 goals so far this season
Matthew Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images
Richard Parry2 January 2017

Zlatan Ibrahimovic says he has made his critics eat their words with his performances for Manchester United.

The 35-year-old has reached the turn of the year with 17 goals to his name so far in his first season playing in England, and said his displays prove he has plenty left in the tank.

"I feel good," he said in a number of national newspapers. "I don't know how many years I have left, but I am enjoying the football.

"I came to the Premier League and everyone thought it would not be possible but, like always, I make them eat their balls.

"It gives me a lot of energy, trust me, because they get paid to talk s*** and I get paid to play with my feet. That's how I enjoy it.

"Every year they (Premier League clubs) have been calling me and it was not feeling good, so I wanted to come when everyone thought I was over (the hill)."

Ibrahimvovic was denied what would have been his 18th United goal in the first half of Saturday's 2-1 win over Middlesbrough when Lee Mason instead gave a foul for a high boot.

The decision left Ibrahimovic stunned, and denied him the chance to equal Lionel Messi's record of 51 goals in 2016.

In Pictures | Manchester United vs West Ham | 30/11/2016

1/20

"Why he whistled, I don't know," he said. "At first he gave the goal and after 30 seconds, he changed his mind.

"There was not a lot to say to him because if you open your mouth, they give you a yellow. But I think I had a fantastic year. I'm not complaining. I came to United and my first six months here have been more than amazing.

"That (the record) was not important. For me, the win is the same if I would beat Messi or not."

You can follow tonight's match between West Ham and Manchester United live on Standard Sport. Click here to find out how.

Additional reporting by the Press Association

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in