Nedved: Zlatan owes his Manchester United success to Capello

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has hit the ground running at Manchester United and his former Juventus teammate Pavel Nedved has revealed the Swede owes much of his success to Fabio Capello.

At 35, Ibrahimovic does not have too many more seasons ahead of him but if anything he has only become a better goalscorer with age.

He set new goalscoring records for Paris Saint Germain – culminating in last year’s 50-goal campaign – and has scored six from 11 appearances in Manchester so far.

Ibrahimovic was not so predatory during his two seasons at Juventus as he hit the back of the net just 17 times.

 (Photo by Michael Regan – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)

Nevertheless while at The Old Lady he made a big impression on Nedved, who insists that it was former England manager Capello who made Ibrahimovic the striker he is today.

“In terms of team-mates, I’ve had a lot and I don’t want to offend anyone,” he said. “If I had to pick one [as the best] though, I’d say Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He’s a striker who can cut through defences. He has scary power and height, as well as excellent technique.

“That said, when he came to Juventus, he couldn’t finish. What you see today is mainly down to the fact Fabio Capello took him for a half-an-hour of shooting practice after every training session.”