Zlatan Ibrahimovic has pipped Henrikh Mkhitaryan to be named Manchester United’s Player of the Month for December.
The towering Swede, United’s top scorer this term, was honoured after an irresistible period in which he was an ever-present and scored seven goals in six games, as well as providing three assists.
Ibrahimovic earned 38 per cent of the combined votes in our polls on ManUtd.com and Twitter to finish marginally ahead of Mkhitaryan, whose own impressive month (which yielded his first three goals for the club) was recognised by 36 per cent of the 140,000 fans who voted.
The duo’s fellow summer signing Paul Pogba, who also found the net twice in December, finished third with 26 per cent – a further illustration of the collective contribution to United’s excellent month, which featured six wins and a draw.
It’s the first time Ibra has picked up this particular prize and the result continues a recent trend of different winners – the 35-year-old succeeds previous recipients Antonio Valencia (November), Juan Mata (October), Marcus Rashford (September), Eric Bailly (August), Anthony Martial (May) and David De Gea (April).