Zlatan always hits the ground running

Zlatan Ibrahimovic characteristically stole the show in Manchester United’s friendly with Galatasaray on Saturday evening, scoring a flying volley inside four minutes.

United fans will be licking their lips ahead of the Premier League curtain-raiser at Bournemouth in two weeks time at the prospect of the enigmatic Swede leading the line.

And, what’s more, he has always hit the ground running in a new country.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic in action against Galatasaray (Photo by John Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images)

As a 19-year-old, Ibrahimovic moved to Ajax from his native Malmo and scored in only his second appearance for the Dutch club, netting the opening goal in a 2-1 win against Feyenoord.

Italy was his next stop in 2004 and Ibrahimovic took 69 minutes to open his account at Juventus, putting the icing on the cake in a 3-0 defeat of Brescia.

A Spanish stamp was next on Ibrahimovic’s passport, when he moved from Inter Milan to Barcelona in 2009.

On August 31 the Swede made his debut against Sporting Gijon and scored the third in a 3-0 win with eight minutes left on the clock.

France became the fifth different country in which Ibrahimovic had plied his trade and he scored twice on his Paris St Germain debut in August 2012 to rescue a point against Lorient.

Ibrahimovic said: “There is something big on the go, it’s going to be very interesting this year.

“I’m going to help the team as much as I can and do what I’m good at, creating chances and scoring goals.”

Bournemouth beware – Zlatan is coming…