Ibrahimovic set for Man United as Mourinho's squad revamp continues

Once the final details of his move are confirmed, Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be Jose Mourinho's second signing -- central defender Eric Bailly was the first -- ahead of Manchester United returning to preseason training on Monday. With the transfer window open for two more months, more new signings will follow and the club keen to do business as promptly as possible.

John Stones will almost certainly be in Manchester next season and is preparing for life at a new club. The 22-year-old Everton defender, who didn't play a minute of England's failed Euro 16 campaign, is wanted by both City and United.

City want him because Eliaquim Mangala has proved erratic and they failed to land their primary target, Aymeric Laporte of Athletic Bilbao. Mourinho is also an admirer of the player -- as Chelsea manager he tried to sign Stones a year ago -- who could cost upwards of £45 million.

Stones is a cultured player, who has natural calmness on the ball that could complement the more physical attributes of Bailly. United also have Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind who can play in central defence, but it's implausible that they'll all be at the club by the end of the current window.

However, just as was the case under Louis van Gaal, United will again face the problem of moving on players with huge contracts. None of the big earners saw their reputations enhanced by the poor results and turgid football of last season. As such, the club might have to subsidise their departures by paying a percentage of their wages while they go out on loan.

United are confident of signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Borussia Dortmund and fans will hope he does better than Shinji Kagawa, the last goalscoring attacking midfielder to move from BVB to Old Trafford. As one of the star players for the German double winners, the Japanese international looked to be a brilliant signing.

However, despite glimpses of his ability, Kagawa suffered with injury, as well as the effects of playing for his country on the other side of the world, damaged confidence and being caught in the muddle following Sir Alex Ferguson's departure. His English was also limited; teammates joked that he used the word "magnificent" to describe everything from the weather to his bath towel.

Kagawa was one of several signings who've underwhelmed in recent years. Radamel Falcao and Angel Di Maria were world-class players but both underwhelmed, as has Bastian Schweinsteiger. Van Gaal's stifling philosophy hardly helped but, even without that, United's post-Ferguson marquee signings have struggled.

United are buying box office again with Ibrahimovic and an immediate effect will be seen when tickets sell out for a friendly against Turkish side Galatasaray at Gothenburg's 43,000-capacity Ullevi Stadium on July 30.

There is great love for a man, whose autobiography sold 700,000 copies in Sweden alone and was translated into 15 other languages; a man who brought more wealthy football tourists from his homeland to Barcelona than any other during his one season -- 2009-10 -- in Catalonia.

Fans would prefer that Ibrahimovic was turning 25 in October and not 35 but Mourinho has sanctioned the signing of a player with whom he worked at Inter in 2008-09.

The manager knows what the striker is made of and must think he still has enough to justify the huge wages he will receive. There were few clubs in European football who could afford to pay Ibrahimovic's salary and some of those were out of the running almost immediately.

For example, he left one -- Paris Saint-Germain -- and could not have gone back to Barcelona. Real Madrid, meanwhile, have an abundance of strikers now they have brought Alvaro Morata back from Juventus. All of which left Bayern Munich and what seemed his most likely destination: the Premier League and, specifically, the red and blue of Manchester and Chelsea.

The Swede is set to be confirmed as United's man and will arrive at a club been starved of characters in recent years. Football is supposed to entertain and be a release from normal life. Under Van Gaal, though, United seldom entertained and personality was jettisoned in favour of a team philosophy, which might have been well intentioned but bored fans.

Comparisons will be drawn with Eric Cantona, who talked the talk but -- crucially -- walked the walk as he inspired United to four league title wins in five seasons. Ibrahimovic has put up with doubters all his life.

"Some defenders try to put you off, physically and verbally," he told me in a 2010 interview. "They say things about my family, call me a gypsy. My mother is from Croatia, my father Bosnia. I was born in Sweden and felt 100 percent Swedish, but that did not matter to them. Because of this, I always felt that I had to do a little extra to get on in life, even when doing the thing I loved most, playing football. It formed my personality, made me strong-willed and confident. It also makes me relaxed now. I don't get upset easily."

Ibrahimovic has won 13 league titles in four countries and has a career goal tally in excess of 450 for club and country. United fans will hope for more of the same in 2016-17.

Andy Mitten is a freelance writer and the founder and editor of United We Stand. Follow him on Twitter @AndyMitten.