Zlatan Ibrahimovic Takes Out Full-Page Ad Announcing Arrival at LA Galaxy

L.A. Galaxy's new signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic took out a full-page advert in the Los Angeles Times on Friday to announce his arrival at the club.

ESPN FC's Dale Johnson posted an image of the stunt via Twitter:

The spread, which is entirely blank apart from the phrase "Dear Los Angeles, You're welcome," accompanied by the player's signature and the club crest, comes less than 24 hours after Sky Sports first reported news of the switch.

"After being in Europe, winning 33 trophies, playing in the best teams in the world, playing with the best players in the world, I wanted to come to the U.S. and play my game there," Ibrahimovic said, per Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times. "I wanted people to enjoy my game there and to win. And I chose the Galaxy to do that."

Manchester United agreed to terminate the Swedish star's contract with immediate effect to facilitate the transfer, per Lyall Thomas for Sky Sports. Ibrahimovic leaves Old Trafford having started just one Premier League game this season. He enjoyed a successful debut campaign in England last term, scoring 28 goals in all competitions.

His deal at L.A. Galaxy runs until the end of the 2019 season, per Grant Wahl for Sports Illustrated, and Ibrahimovic is excited, as evidenced by the unusual means of how he delivered the news to fans in Los Angeles. He had initially announced his intention to leave United via an Instagram post on Thursday:

Zlatan has had a glittering playing career, winning league titles in four countries and enjoying prominent spells with the likes of AC Milan, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Ajax, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain.

Although the Sweden legend—who scored 62 goals for his country in 116 games—is considering coming out of retirement to play again at this summer's FIFA World Cup, it is clear the 36-year-old's career is nearing an end. Not only is MLS a step down from the Premier League, but L.A. Galaxy finished bottom of the Western Conference last season.

However, the Galaxy have kicked off the 2018 MLS season with back-to-back wins against the Portland Timbers and New York City. Ibrahimovic joins Ashley Cole and Giovani dos Santos to make his new club one of the front-runners for success.

For United, getting Ibrahimovic off the wage bill can only be good news. He was earning £125,000 per week, per Ian Whittell for The Times, considerably less than the £350,000 per week he was earning the previous campaign. Nevertheless, it was a high figure for someone who played just 103 minutes of league football in 2017-18.

As the full-page advert might suggest, L.A. Galaxy are set for an exciting year with Zlatan among their ranks.