Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho expects Zlatan Ibrahimovic to return in January

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho expects new signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic to give his side an added edge in January and believes the Red Devils will not need to dip into the winter the transfer market because of the indomitable Swede.

Ibrahimovic, 35, re-signed for United earlier this week but will not be able to play until after Christmas as he strives to recover from a knee injury sustained in April. The former Barcelona and Juventus hitman scored 28 goals in all competitions for Mourinho's side last season, though the move to re-sign him was met with some scepticism from some quarters.

Mourinho had no qualms over Ibrahimovic's return, though, and believes his former cohort at Inter Milan will be able to provide further quality to an already stellar offensive cast at Manchester United in January, when their rivals may be searching for fresh blood.

Asked when Ibrahimovic will be available for Manchester United, Mourinho said: "January. In January when the market opens and people want to spend money we won't have to, we have Zlatan. We have one player who was phenomenal for us, and we are waiting for him. He'll give us quality in the second part of the season."

Mourinho was speaking after Manchester United's comfortably 2-0 victory over Leicester City at Old Trafford. Goals from substitutes Marcus Rashford and Marouane Fellaini ensured United continued their strong start to the league campaign, but Mourinho was keen to praise the "blue wall" with Leicester.

"I think we played very well, the blue wall was very well organised and I always give credit for that," Mourinho said. "But we kept calm and in control, we missed the penalty, If I have to choose a word to describe my team i would say solid.

"We can look into perspectives, we won against Leicester at home, but yes we had too many draw at home last season. Even with 1-0 we were quite comfortable, we were solid and compact. If I had to describe my team in one word I would have to say, solid."