Zlatan Ibrahimovic says he can “see himself conquering the US, as I have with Europe” in a wide-ranging interview to coincide with being named Sweden’s top player for the 10th successive year.

The Manchester United forward received his Guldbollen – Golden Ball – at a ceremony in Stockholm, extending a run of success that began in 2007. A bronze likeness of the 36-year-old will soon stand outside the Friends Arena stadium in the capital city, where Ibrahimovic scored a brilliant overhead kick in a four-goal haul against England in November 2012.

The player, speaking to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet in answer to a question about rumours that he will end his career in the US, said: “It’s a huge option for me. For the football and everything else. I can see myself conquering the US as I have with Europe.

“Lots of people stay in one place throughout their career but I’ve travelled around like Napoleon and conquered every new country where I’ve set foot. So perhaps I should do what Napoleon didn’t and cross the Atlantic and conquer the States as well.”

Ibrahimovic said the Manchester United team he joined are not as strong as the PSG one he left but the decision to move to the Premier League was “an easy one” when José Mourinho came calling. “The team I signed for this summer is not as strong as the one I left but when Mourinho called the decision was easy. When he calls I have no problem coming, all we had to decide was when I was to be presented as Man U player. The rest, the financial deal, was not the difficult part,” he said. “It was about the challenge and I will never say no to a challenge. This is what I wanted; coming to one of the world’s biggest clubs, [one] that has had troubles and not won much of late, and try the Premier League. That is the challenge.”

He also spoke about the well-publicised struggles Mourinho’s team have suffered. “We started off well, with a few wins in a row. Then we started losing and we lost playing badly, by several goals. We had a week when we lost three games, that has never happened to me in 15 years. There were a few games where I didn’t score and missed too many chances but these things happen. As long as I’m there and create the chances and get the ball, the goals will come.”

On the question of whether United can challenge for the title, he added: “I hope so, I believe in what we do. I know the capacity of this team but it’s still a long way to go. With a bit of luck we should be able to do it.”