Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s potential move to Manchester United looks to be on hold for the time being after Sweden coach Erik Hamren stressed it “would not be OK” for the striker to fly to England to finalise a transfer.
Ibrahimovic is currently with the Sweden squad in France preparing for their Euro 2016 opener against Republic of Ireland on Monday.
The 34-year-old, who is out of contract at Paris Saint-Germain this summer, has been heavily linked with United.
A source told ESPN FC last week that the Red Devils were in advanced talks with Ibrahimovic, and on Tuesday the player himself, having been asked about the move directly, refused to confirm whether or not he was set to join United, adding: “You will have to have patience.”
And now Sweden boss Hamren has had his say on the speculation surrounding his captain.
Asked by reporters if he thought the United talk would affect Ibrahimovic, Hamren is quoted by Goteborgs-Posten as saying: “I’m 100 percent sure it won’t affect Zlatan. He’s been in the game for a long time. Players have leisure time on their schedule, and I can’t control what they do then.”
Then when asked if it was OK for Ibrahimovic to fly somewhere to finalise a transfer such as Manchester, he said: “It would not be OK for Zlatan to fly to Manchester.”
Hamren also said he does not believe the speculation will have a negative impact on the rest of the Sweden squad.
“I understand there is a lot of Zlatan media. Not only in Sweden. I understand that,” he said.
“But with us, it is nothing. He handles it perfectly. The players are familiar with it. You can be calm — there is nothing that has affected us negatively in the group. Absolutely nothing.”
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