Marcos Rojo has revealed how he once came to blows with Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the Manchester United dressing room forcing Jose Mourinho to intervene.
Mourinho once told the two players to calm things down in training as their fierce approach ran the risk of injury.
But it seems their conflict spilled off the pitch, with Rojo recalling an explosive incident in which he went for the Swedish superstar in the dressing room.
Rojo, who departed United on loan for hometown club Estudiantes last month, came close to physical blows with Ibrahimovich after his arrival in the Premier League in 2016.
Fortunately, manager Mourinho was on hand to diffuse the situation before it escalated further.
(Image: AFP)
In an interview with Cielo Sports, Rojo said: “Zlatan has a strong character, Ezequiel Lavezzi had warned me.
“I knew he wanted us to give him all the balls, but during a game phase I saw him ask for it and I didn’t give it to him. I passed it to Paul Pogba.
“Then he started yelling at me, raising his hand, and telling me a lot of things in Spanish and English.
“I said to him: ‘what’s going on with you big nose? Shut up…’
“I knew that if he caught me, he would kill me so the only thing for me to do was face him.
(Image: REUTERS)
“When he entered the locker room, I directly told him to close his mouth and stop yelling.
“We started to insult each other and all our teammates were watching us.
“And in the middle, José Mourinho was trying to calm us down.”
All three have now left Old Trafford, with Ibrahimovic heading to LA Galaxy before returning to Europe with AC Milan last month.
Mourinho, sacked by United in 2018, has returned to management with Tottenham whilst Rojo secured a loan exit back to Argentina.
Speaking about his move, Rojo told TNT: “When I had the OK of the club, the first one I called was my mother and said: ‘Don’t say anything’. Zero, she told me. She told everyone, ha.
“It was hard for the club to make my return difficult. We had been talking a lot.
“It was when the coach said that I was going to stay there. When he said that, it was already advanced. I didn’t understand why Solskjaer said it.”
