Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be given extra holiday time over the international break, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has said.
United striker Ibrahimovic has enjoyed an impressive start to his career at the club by scoring in the Community Shield match then adding another three goals in three Premier League games, played on successive weekends.
Having retired from playing for Sweden after Euro 2016, the player will not have any international duty next weekend, but United manager Mourinho still wants to protect him further.
Mourinho said: "At 34 years old, you need to rest. You cannot play 70 matches a season. So I give the other guys, who are not selected for the national teams, two days -- and I give four days to Zlatan. I give holidays a la carte. It depends on the situation. And he is playing every match, every minute. So four matches, he played 360 minutes -- four days off for the big guy."
The first of those matches was the 2-1 win in the Community Shield against Leicester City on Aug. 7 when Ibrahimovic scored a match-winning header. The Swede then fired in another goal against Bournemouth in a 3-1 win on Aug. 14.
He struck twice against Southampton on Aug. 19, from a header and a penalty in a 2-0 win, but failed to find the net in the 1-0 victory against Hull City on Aug 27.