Ibrahimovic and Mourinho get their first taste of a Manchester derby when City visit Old Trafford on Saturday as the pair come up against a common foe in Pep Guardiola. Mourinho has an infamously fractious relationship with the Spaniard while Ibrahimovic fell out with Guardiola during their time at Barcelona together, which led to the Swede calling him a ‘spineless coward’ in his autobiography. The former Paris Saint-Germain forward also claimed that “Mourinho is Guardiola’s opposite – if Mourinho brightens up the room, Guardiola pulls down the curtains.”

Speaking ahead of the derby, Ibrahimovic said: “Mourinho is a mastermind. He knows everything about the game. “I do not have many regrets, but I do regret that I did not get to play under Mourinho for longer. When the opportunity came again for him to be my coach at United it was an easy decision. “Who wouldn’t want to be coached by him? I am at a great club with a great coach and great fans and I want to be as successful as possible for them.” While the 34-year-old refused to repeat his criticisms of Guardiola, his agent Mino Raiola reignited the war of words with the Manchester City boss on Thursday.

“I don’t like Guardiola,” said Raiola, who is also the agent of fellow summer United arrivals Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.