Zlatan Ibrahimovic left Manchester United for a transfer to LA Galaxy because of the club’s exit from the Champions League, a doctor who worked closely with him has suggested.
Hong Kong surgeon Freddie Fu believes the Swede may have stayed on at Old Trafford if he’d had a chance of winning a major trophy with the Red Devils, which looks unlikely this season.
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United are well behind Manchester City in the Premier League title race and would need a miracle to finish as champions now, while they were also dumped out of Europe in a shock defeat to Sevilla.
Fu believes that defeat to Sevilla may have played a particularly big part in the veteran forward deciding to try his hand in the MLS with LA Galaxy before the end of this season.
The move came as something of a surprise, but Ibrahimovic had also barely played for Jose Mourinho’s side this season due to injury, with which Fu spent a great deal of time helping the player.
‘His idea was to see if we can go back and win more titles, especially the Champions League. After United lost to Sevilla, I think his decision, in my opinion, was that maybe that was it. This is my feeling,’ Fu told the South China Morning Post.
‘United won’t be able to catch up with Manchester City in the Premier League either. Maybe they can win the FA Cup which is good but not as good as the Champions League.’
