Zlatan Ibrahimovic claims he was never worried about returning to football after appearing off the bench in Manchester United’s 4-1 victory over Newcastle on Saturday.

The former Sweden international has recovered at a rate not expected from a 36-year-old and took his place on the bench for the visit of the Magpies.

He came on after 77 minutes to a rapturous ovation from Old Trafford and Ibrahimovic was his usual charismatic self in the post-match interview.

“This feels special,” Ibrahimovic told BT Sport after the match. “Different day, same quality. I’m not worried at all – I train hard, sacrifice a lot. I play in my head, my knee just needs to follow.

“Was I worried about returning? No. Lions don’t recover like humans.”

Paul Pogba, meanwhile, was also returning after a spell on the sidelines and he made the starting XI before scoring United’s third of the match.

“We won, we have the three points and that is most important thing,” said Pogba. “Zlatan Ibrahimovic, me and Marcos Rojo came back from injury so we are happy.

“I see the same team and feel the same atmosphere. The season is very long, it is not about now, it is about the end. We just forget the criticism.

“It hurts when you are not playing, you want to help the team, but you just have to do your recovery.”

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