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Zlatan Ibrahimovic Made A Special Gesture To Make Romelu Lukaku Feel Welcome At Manchester United

Zlatan Ibrahimovic Made A Special Gesture To Make Romelu Lukaku Feel Welcome At Manchester United

It shows that Ibrahimovic and Zlatan weren't always enemies before things got heated between the AC Milan and Inter strikers.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku went head-to-head on the pitch at the San Siro on Tuesday night but it wasn't always the case that they were rivals.

The Coppa Italia quarter final between AC Milan and Inter was explosive as Ibrahimovic and Lukaku argued on the pitch, and down the tunnel, as each man picked up a yellow card.

The Swede was heard saying, 'Call your mother, do your voodoo shi*t,' as well as calling his the opposition striker a 'donkey.'

Later in the game Zlatan was sent off, after picking up his first yellow card for the argument, and he was compelled to defend what he'd said to the Belgian after claims what he said may have been racist.

It certainly got extremely personal between the pair, with the former Chelsea forward firing back saying, "F*ck you & your wife you little bitch."

However they clearly used to get along, with this interview from 2017 proving that Ibra was happy to give away the number nine shirt when Lukaku joined him at Manchester United.

Zlatan joined the Old Trafford side in the summer of 2016, after leaving PSG as the club's then all time top scorer, and was actually given the number 19 shirt ahead of Anthony Martial.

The 39-year-old scored 17 league goals in his first season in the Premier League before Lukaku joined him in Jose Mourinho's team.

Lukaku kept the number nine shirt for the next two seasons, scoring 42 goals in 96 appearances in all competitions, before moving to Inter.

The number nine shirt then went to Marcus Rashford, who still has it, whilst Martial has been United's number 11 ever since losing his original squad number to Zlatan.

Ibra only played seven games for United in his second season at the club, following is cruciate ligament injury, and left for LA Galaxy in January 2018.

Zlatan with the number 10 shirt at United. Image: PA Images
Zlatan with the number 10 shirt at United. Image: PA Images

It's not completely obvious when the two striker's relationship soured, leading to this week's confrontation, but some people believe it was a social media post last year.

Following a win in the Milan derby last year, in which both players scored, Lukaku used Zlatan's previous self appointed title of 'king of Milan' to anoint himself the 'new king of Milan.'

Both striker's scored in the game but Lukaku's injury time goal wrapped up the game for his side and he has scored in every Milan derby he's played in since moving to Italy.

Featured Image Credit: ESPN/PA

Topics:ย Football News, Manchester United, Serie A, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Premier League, Romelu Lukaku, AC Milan, Inter