Zlatan Ibrahimovic was ready to do big things coming into the 2019 season, but so far the campaign for the LA Galaxy star hasn't really even gotten off the ground.
Having opened his account for the season on the league's opening weekend, scoring a winner for the Galaxy against the Chicago Fire, the former Manchester United and PSG star was forced to sit out his club's next two matches with an Achilles problem.
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The Galaxy lost the first of those games, falling 2-0 to FC Dallas, but responded well with a 3-2 win over previously unbeaten Minnesota United the next week.
Now it seems the club will have its star man back sooner rather than later, with manager Guillermo Barros Schelotto hoping to have Ibrahimovic back on the field to face the Portland Timbers when the sides return to action following the international break.
"We give him one week more to stay out and recover to be 100 percent when we start training on Tuesday,” he told the club's website. “I think he’ll be ready for Portland.”
The big forward isn't the only player expected back either.
The club's website also reports that fellow designated player Romain Alessandrini will be returning to training this week, while midfielder Juninho should also be available for the match against the Timbers.
Ibrahimovic hasn't seemed overly worried about his time off, taking to twitter to joke about his current situation.
Me for the moment pic.twitter.com/l8KrnvOS7P
— Zlatan Ibrahimović (@Ibra_official) March 20, 2019
The Galaxy are hoping to rebound from a bad run in the last couple of years that saw the club come up short of the MLS playoffs in both 2017 and 2018.
The signing of Ibrahimovic was nearly enough to get the job done last season, with the forward finishing second in the league scoring charts with 22 goals.
He was rewarded with a new contract for 2019 as the Galaxy look to get back among the elite in Major League Soccer.
