Zlatan Ibrahimovic will have to earn his spot on Manchester United's "made team", says manager Jose Mourinho.
Ibrahimovic scored 28 goals in all competitions for the Red Devils last season, despite seeing his season end early with a knee injury.
After being a free agent throughout much of the summer, the 35-year-old was brought back to Old Trafford on Thursday.
However, he will not be fit to play until the new year and is not guaranteed playing time, especially after the club signed Romelu Lukaku during the transfer window.
“No, no, no, no. Zlatan is going to arrive into a made team,” Mourinho told reporters. “He is going to arrive mid-season with the team playing in a certain way and with players having what I call the functional links in the dynamic of the team, so nobody should be worried with Zlatan.
Getty
“We need a striker and we have one striker just around the corner that belongs to our family, that likes to be with us and play for us. We know him well and he is one of the best strikers in the world so the only consequence of it is we are going to have a much better squad.”
Ibrahimovic has a reputation as a player with a big ego, but Mourinho insists he won't pick his team based on price tags or popularity.
Mourinho said: "Zlatan knows me. And he knows that I play the players that I think are the best for the team. I always did it.
"I always did that in my life so if he comes here and he proves that he is the best, he plays. If the other ones don't give him a chance to prove that, that's life. But I try always to be honest with my players and with my team. I try.
"Maybe sometimes I do not do the correct things. But I always try to do."