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Zlatan Ibrahimovic: 'Qualifying for Champions League will not affect my future'

Ibrahimovic: 'Champions League irrelevant'
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic insists that Manchester United do not need to qualify for the Champions League in order to keep him.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has insisted that his Manchester United future is not dependent on the club qualifying for the Champions League.

The former Sweden international has an option to extend his contract by a further 12 months when it expires in the summer, but he has not yet decided to sign on the dotted line.

Since joining the Red Devils on a free transfer last year after ending a four-year spell at Paris Saint-Germain, Ibrahimovic has scored 26 goals in 38 appearances.

The ex-Barcelona forward was instrumental in helping United win the EFL Cup on Sunday as he scored twice, including the 87th-minute winner, to earn a 3-2 victory over Southampton.

After the match, questions soon turned to his future and when asked by reporters if he would be more inclined to stay if United qualified for next season's Champions League, Ibrahimovic said: "No, it's not about that.

"I came here and the club wasn't in the Champions League, so it had nothing to do with the Champions League. So somebody made up a story that if they don't qualify for the Champions League I will not extend. It has nothing to do with that.

"Let's see what happens. I mean the moment, how I feel, the situation, we have another two months of the season to go, because according to many I could not do what I've been doing."

United currently sit sixth in the Premier League table, two points adrift of the top four.

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Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic in action during the Premier League clash with Liverpool at Old Trafford on January 15, 2017
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