Jose Mourinho admits Zlatan Ibrahimovic could return for Manchester United in the second half of the season

Jose Mourinho has suggested that Zlatan Ibrahimovic could feature for Manchester United in the second half of the season.

Significant knee ligament damage brought Ibrahimovic's outstanding first campaign at Old Trafford to an abrupt halt in April, with the Swede released at the end of his one-year deal.

It was little surprise given the 35-year-old's huge wages and inability to play until next year, with the club moving quickly to sign Romelu Lukaku from Everton as a replacement.

But the striker has stayed on at United to do his rehabilitation and could yet have a future at the club according to Mourinho.

“We spent big money on a striker because, with strikers, you either spend or you don't get,”Mourinho told reporters.

“And we spent because of what happened to Zlatan and we cannot allow ourselves to be without an important, strong striker for the first six months of the season.”

“Of course we wanted to be honest and open and let everything for him to make the decision in case his desire was to leave, so there was not a new contract.

This is not the first time that Mourinho has opened the door on a possible new deal for the Swedish veteran.

At the beginning of the club’s pre-season tour of the US, Mourinho spoke about Ibrahimovic at length, insisting that executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward was still in talks with the player.

“Possible, it's open,” Mourinho said when asked if there was a chance Ibrahimovic could sign a new deal.

“There was a space of time for everybody to think, to feel, to decide and from his point of view he made the decision of wanting to play football still at the highest level, didn't want to hide behind such an amazing injury.

“It would be easy for him to hide behind it and to say 'it's time stop and go to a different level of football'. He did not want that.

“He was not happy with the way he finished the season. Of course with his first European trophy but not playing and he made the challenge for himself of wanting to keep playing at the highest level.

“Obviously we open our door for him to recover with us, obviously Old Trafford, Carrington is open for him to recover with our people and to be one of us.

“At the same time, let's make a decision that makes us all happy and if that decision is for him to stay and for us to wait, let's say until December maybe because I don't think before December he can be back to competitive football.

“But why not for us to wait for such a good player that gave us so much?

“So we're speaking, we are changing ideas and again it's in the hands of (executive vice-chairman Ed) Woodward and Zlatan's agent, but the important thing is that the final decision is the best for the player.”