When 21-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic started with Phil Neville, Roy Keane and David Beckham faced him before scoring the winning goal against Man United in a pre-season friendly.

It takes a brave man to start a fight with Roy Keane, yet Zlatan Ibrahimovic is built differently and showed it in a friendly against Manchester United in 2002.

The 40-year-old Milan striker, who himself spent two seasons at Old Trafford, is a certified legend of the game for the trophies he’s won, the way he’s played and the character he is.

Never one to back down and always ready to thrive in the spotlight, the Swede took the opportunity to do so in a pre-season game 20 years ago against Manchester United, when he was still playing his trade with the club. ‘Ajax.

After being knocked down on the edge of the box by Rio Ferdinand, the then 21-year-old Zlatan felt like midfielder Phil Neville had entered a bit unnecessarily to clear the ball – even after the referee had hissed.

The 6ft 4in frontman faced Neville, who had little interest in a discussion with the taekwondo black belt.

Perhaps sensing their team-mate needed help, Keane and David Beckham politely called on the striker to step down from the confrontation and words were exchanged.

Keane, who was in possession of the Red Devils captain’s armband, tried to end the argument, but Beckham and Zlatan went back and forth for a while and the referee had to interfere.

The pair were later teammates at Paris Saint-Germain when Beckham ended his career in the French capital just over a decade later.

The game on 2 August 2002 ended in a 2-1 victory for Ajax, with Zlatan scoring the winner thanks to an assist from future Tottenham and West Ham striker Mido, although it mattered little to the Red Devils .

United regained the formerly named Premiership title that season, taking it from Arsenal, before Beckham left for Real Madrid in the summer of 2003.

Zlatan, meanwhile, went on to make a name for himself across Europe, joining Juventus in 2004 and then playing for Inter, Barcelona and Milan before also playing at PSG and then United.

He’s still playing now and was recently seen celebrating yet another Serie A title, this time in Milan.