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Zlatan Ibrahimovic claims he foresaw trophy success at Manchester United

Zlatan Ibrahimovic believes winning trophies gets better with age and that he foresaw all that has come to pass at Old Trafford after firing Manchester United to success in the EFL Cup final.

The 35-year-old striker scored twice in the 3-2 victory over Southampton -- including a late winner -- to give United manager Jose Mourinho his first trophy since taking over at Old Trafford.

 "This is what I predicted, everything I saw would happen. Others didn't see it. I came here to show others what I saw," Ibrahimovic told Sky Sports after the match.

"It was nice, it was very nice. This is a team effort, this is not about an individual. This is collective.

"This is what I came for, I came to win and I'm winning so I just have to keep going because the more I win, the more satisfied I get.

"It says we believe in what we are doing, we keep going, training hard, we make sacrifices and we are winning. After seven months I have two trophies with this club, there are other clubs who didn't win for 10 years.''

Ibrahimovic has been a winner everywhere he has played in his career, helping his teams capture trophies at Ajax, Barcelona, AC Milan, Inter and Paris Saint-Germain. As his career begins to reach its more advanced stages, the Sweden international said the wins are becoming sweeter.

He said: "I think you appreciate it more the older you get, in the beginning you don't realise what the trophy means. The older I got, the more mature I got, the more I understood it's all about winning, it's all about collecting these trophies. I think this was my 32nd trophy and I'm super happy.''

It was actually his 34th trophy in his career -- not including one-off wins like the Community Shield -- and the match-winner said when he got the call from Mourinho to come to United, the decision was easy.

"I got a call from Jose Mourinho -- I might have a good relationship with him -- and, when he called, that's the reason I came. I'm happy I came. I know I made the right choice. I predicted things -- what I predicted is what I'm doing now."

Ibrahimovic acknowledged Southampton had put up a fight, but that winning was all that mattered.

"It doesn't matter, I bring the trophy home,'' he replied when asked if Southampton had been the better side. "I think they did a very good game, losing 2-0 and coming back to 2-2 is not easy, we didn't play at 100 percent but at the end we got the winning goal and that is what counts.

"Today was all about winning and getting the trophy, people remember who lifted the trophy not the one who played the best game.''

Asked about Mourinho becoming the first United manager to win a trophy in his maiden season at the helm, Ibrahimovic added: "He is a winner.

"When you get Jose you know what you get. If you want to win, you get Jose and that is the way it works.

"The club knew what they were doing when they bring him, it is nothing new, it is something that keeps going and following him, I'm super happy for him.''

And teammate Paul Pogba echoed the sentiments of Ibrahimovic, saying it was obvious that the former PSG player meant business when he joined United.

"That's why [Ibrahimovic] came here," Pogba told Sky Sports. "He came here to make a difference on the pitch -- [we could see that] before the season.

"[Ibrahimovic] made the difference and I'm very happy."

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