LA Galaxy make offer to Man United for Zlatan Ibrahimovic - source
The LA Galaxy have extended a contract offer to Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic that would make the 35-year-old Swede the highest paid player in MLS history, a source confirmed to ESPN FC.
Sports Illustrated was the first to report the news. Galaxy president Chris Klein declined to comment when contacted by ESPN FC.
Ibrahimovic is free to sign with any club as his contract with United, which contains an option year that has not yet been exercised, expires this summer.
Last May, multiple sources told ESPN FC former Ajax, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Sweden national team strikerwas in discussions to join the league, but he signed with the Red Devils instead.
But Ibrahimovic said in November that MLS remains a "huge" option for him, adding that he could see himself "conquering the U.S. as I have with Europe."
Ibrahimovic -- the player his peers in MLS would like to see join the league ahead of even Lionel Messi -- has 15 goals in 25 Premier League games this season, and 25 goals in 30 club games across all competitions.
The Galaxy do not have an open designated player spot, as Jelle Van Damme became one over the winter. But they could buy down one of their DPs as they did with Omar Gonzalez in 2015, which allowed them to ink Giovani dos Santos.
Ibrahimovic has won titles in the four countries outside of his native Sweden in which he's played: Italy, Spain, France and the Netherlands.
"I've travelled around like Napoleon, and conquered every new country where I've set foot," Ibrahimovic said in the November interview with Swedish television network Aftonbladet. "So perhaps I should do what Napoleon didn't and cross the Atlantic and conquer the States as well."
The Galaxy are the most successful club in MLS history, having won a record five championships in their first 21 seasons. Three of those have come this decade, with the Galaxy last hoisting MLS Cup in 2014.
The club could use an experienced striker after Robbie Keane left following the 2016 campaign.
Additional reporting by ESPN FC's Jeff Carlisle.
