Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has said that Zlatan Ibrahimovic has "proved he is a superman" after taking the Premier League by storm this season.

Many questioned whether the Swedish striker had what it takes to make an impact in his maiden campaign in the English top flight, having joined United as a free agent during the summer at the age of 34.

Despite his ageing legs, Ibrahimovic's ability in front of goal has shown little sign of diminishing, taking his tally for the season to 16 goals in all after a brace against West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns on Saturday evening.

Mourinho admits to being happy for the former Paris Saint-Germain ace, but says that he is equally pleased to now have a week-long break before United's next outing to give his star attacker a much-needed rest.

"I'm so pleased for him," he told BBC Sport. "He's the kind of player who doesn't need to prove anything to anyone but when he decides to come to England in the last period of his career, to the most difficult championship, I think he proved he's a superman in his mentality.

"What he's doing is fantastic. At the age of 35, I think it's a dream for every striker of 25 to arrive in the Premier League and impress as he is doing. I need to give him a rest and now we have a week, we don't have a match after 48 hours. It's not just him."

Ibrahimovic has now scored in 100 of his 170 league games since the start of 2011-12 campaign - a run that includes spells at AC Milan, PSG and Man United.