Jose Mourinho has urged Zlatan Ibrahimovic to take his time with his rehabilitation from a serious knee injury following the Swede's one-year contract renewal with Manchester United.

Ibrahimovic suffered ligament damage during United's Europa League quarter-final with Anderlecht last season and that appeared to have ended his Old Trafford stay having only joined the previous July.

But United announced on August 24 that Ibrahimovic had signed a new one-year deal, seeing him return to the club until the end of the 2017-18 campaign.

Social media posts from the former Barcelona, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain star seemed to show that he was making strong progress, with speculation suggesting he could be even make his return before the end of the year.

However, Mourinho has tempered such hysteria, demanding patience and caution from the striker.

"I think we need him," Mourinho said. "We wait for him, but with patience. He has to be patient.

"He doesn't have to be emotional and he doesn't have to try to make crazy things to improve [recover] quicker in his mind.

"Because I know that his desire is to improve quicker. So [Mourinho wants him to be] calm – [take things] step by step.

"We want him, but we want him in his best condition."