Zlatan Ibrahimovic is to be released by Manchester United in a few days.
Despite finishing the season as their top scorer, the knee ligament injury he sustained in the Europa League game with Anderlecht torpedoed his hopes of a one-year extension to his current deal.
As we told you earlier this month, this doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll never play for United again. It’s understood that he will use the club’s facilities as he continues his rehabilitation and, if this proves successful, could be handed a short-term deal to stay at the club until the end of next season.
Despite this, talk of a move to Major League Soccer refuses to die down. Reports continue to link the Swede with a move to LA Galaxy, possibly in time for the start of their 2018 season in March.
With this in mind, you can probably see why people were getting excited by a tweet sent by Zlatan’s sportswear company, A-Z.
‘Welcome to Los Angeles,’ the graphic read, with the tweet saying ‘The journey continues’. The tweet was seen by many as a major clue that Zlatan was California-bound, some even went as far as saying such a deal had already been agreed and that the person responsible for A-Z’s Twitter account had accidentally let the news slip a few days early.
The journey continues. #azbyzlatan pic.twitter.com/PbbJTNil6p
— AZsportswear (@AZsportswear) June 21, 2017
Whereas most were quick to assume that this meant the 36-year-old would be a Galaxy player before long, others pointed out that the choice of colours used in the graphic could be a clue that he was on the cusp of joining LA’s other team. (Yes, we know that sounds ridiculous.)
Imaginatively named Los Angeles FC are due to make their MLS bow at the start of next season, and it’s already known that their colours will be black and gold. With the lettering in Zlatan’s sportswear company’s tweet appearing in a similar colour, some were jumping to conclusions.
That's LAFC colors…
— Kevin O'Brien (@irishpadres) June 21, 2017
LAFC
— ⭐ Vela's Future SG (@The_LA_Wanderer) June 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/XhakaTikiTaka/status/877592597568638977
https://twitter.com/ZatlanPartyno/status/877590951178280960
It's the official Zlatan clothing co. The colors are too similar. There's too much that makes sense for it to be a coincidence. We will see!
— Heart of LAFC (@heartoflafc) June 21, 2017
Sadly though, a look back at some of his other tweets reveal that A-Z’s fondness for gold lettering isn’t something new…
Like a boss. Showing the way and bringing out the gold in others. #zlatan #mufc #azsportswear pic.twitter.com/P61efX5Zgc
— AZsportswear (@AZsportswear) April 9, 2017
That's a comeback. #zlatan #mufc #azsportswear pic.twitter.com/L3Wb8mPXnx
— AZsportswear (@AZsportswear) April 4, 2017
As giddy as some of these soccer fans might be about his potential arrival in LA, we think this is probably more to do with his clothing line moving there instead.
For now, there’s no news.
