Zlatan Ibrahimovic: 'Fantastic to be back playing'

Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has suggested that his knee ligament injury was more serious than reported, despite making his return ahead of schedule during Saturday's 4-1 win over Newcastle United.

Ibrahimovic was handed a 13-minute cameo at Old Trafford in what was his first competitive appearance since picking up the serious injury in April.

The 36-year-old was initially expected back around Christmas at best, but he insists that he did not rush his recovery and is delighted to be back playing again.

"It's fantastic to be playing. Jose said, 'Do whatever you want, I trust in you and you know what you have to do,' so I was not worried. The contract is all paperwork and I do the physical work. Even if I had a contract or not I needed to train, that's up to the other people, I knew I would stay because I wanted to stay," Ibrahimovic told reporters.

"At the moment I am just thankful I can run and push it and play football again. In my recovery, I have not rushed anything, I have been out for six and half months. The only secret has been working hard. Those close to me know what I have been doing - I was working five, six hours a day.

"When it happened I said giving up was not an option. This was not a one-man work, it was everyone's and thanks to them that I am back on field and can play because if people knew the real injury they would be in shock that I was even playing. But I keep that personal. People think it was only the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) in my knee, but it was more than the ACL. But it's sensitive and that's why I don't choose to talk about it."

Ibrahimovic was United's top scorer last season with 28 goals across all competitions.