With Zlatan Ibrahimovic confirming his move to Manchester United over Instagram, the eagerness and excitement at his arrival at the Old Trafford side has reached fever pitch to the point of explosion.
The 34-year-old will link up with former boss Jose Mourinho, under whom the Swede enjoyed a fruitful spell at Inter Milan. The resignation of this partnership could see the end of United’s struggles on the pitch, and once again be a force in domestic and European competition, with Zlatan at the forefront of the attack.
Expectation is once again on the up at United, just as it was this time last year when Radamel Falcao joined the Reds, so the pragmatic Reds fans won’t have their Ibra shirts on order just yet. Still, there is room for optimism among the United faithful.
United’s Scandinavian contingent has had varying degrees of success over the years, so we’ve taken a look at the top 10 most successful Scandinavians to send the Stretford End into raptures:
Magnus Eikrem
The first one on the list has no success in the first team, admittedly, but it didn’t stop him making our list. The exploits he made in the youth team amount to a lot, when he captained the Under-18’s to cup finals, was a regular in their squad and became a two-time Norwegian league winner with Molde FK under Ole Gunnar Solksjaer.
John Sivebaek
Despite only lasting one year at Old Trafford, the Dane will always be remembered as the man to score the first goal under the reign of Sir Alex Ferguson. The rest, as they say, is history.
Anders Lindegaard
Never featured quite as much as a certain Danish keeper before him, Anders Lindegaard provided steady, if unspectacular service, during his five-year stay at United.
Jesper Blomqvist
Noted as being an exceptional carrier of the ball, the tricky Swedish winger enjoyed three years at United from 1998 to 2001, where he started and won the Champions League final of 1999, as well as the FA Cup and the Premier League in the same year.
Henrik Larsson
Although most famed for his exploits at Celtic and Barcelona, the Swedish forward briefly lit up Old Trafford during a three-month loan spell in 2007. Three goals in 13 games wasn’t bad, but he endeared himself forever to United folk by his attitude and his hard work.
Henning Berg
“BLOCKED ON THE LINE BY HENNING BERG!” came the shriek from Clive Tyldesley after Berg made a heroic block on the goal line to deny Inter Milan an away goal in the 1999 Champions League quarter-final. Says everything about the commitment of a man who spent three years at Old Trafford and won the Treble.
Jesper Olsen
A five-year spell at Old Trafford saw Olsen become the first Scandinavian to surpass 100 games for the Reds. A winger by trade, he won the 1985 FA Cup and plundered 21 goals for the Reds before finishing his career in France.
Ronny Johnsen
The Norweigan was a centrepiece during his time with the Red Devils, from 1996 until 2002. An ever present during the Treble-winning season, he was lauded for his Champions League first leg semi-final performance against Juventus in midfield that some say was his finest in a United shirt. He came away with nine medals for his services.
Peter Schmeichel
Of course the Great Dane was going to feature on this list! A £50,000 import from Brondby, his barking orders at his defence, his huge mop of blonde hair, as well as a handful of goals, made him a spectacular serviceman for the Reds. His penalty save from Dennis Bergkamp in the FA Cup semi-final of 1999 is still talked about to this day.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Which leaves top spot for the ‘Baby-Faced Assassin’. Signed from hometown club Molde FK in 1995, he was one of few to happily sit on the bench and analyse the opposition before coming on and destroying them. A wonderful servant to the United cause, he will justifiably always be remembered for one moment in history, as referenced by Clive Tyldesley…