Sidney Sladen
Well, this one was coming I guess. For a long time now, there has been no talk about the giant Swede of Manchester United and it was only a matter of time before some news came out about him and here it is. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not expected to be retained by United beyond his contract. According to The Telegraph, Manchester United might not extend Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s contract. The club’s top contributor last season with 28 goals and 10 assists might leave Old Trafford after one season of brilliance, marred by an unfortunate injury.
Ibra joined Manchester United on a free transfer and immediately took the league by storm with his sizzling performances for United. He carried the team on his shoulders and nurtured young talents like Martial and Rashford. Irrespective of whether he performs on the pitch or not, a character like Zlatan Ibrahimovic is essential in a dressing room, especially in a team full of youngsters.
That was probably the reason why Mourinho decided to sign Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Surely, the young lads would have benefited from playing and training alongside a champion like Ibrahimovic. The 35-year-old hardly shows any signs of physical struggle despite his ripe age. He turned the clock back last season and played his heart out and it is disappointing to see the way Zlatan’s Manchester United career is coming to an end.
Ibrahimovic’s current one-year deal is expiring and United are understood to have the option of exercising a 12-month extension. That would have been triggered had Ibrahimovic started 31 Premier League games for us. Instead, he managed 27, being named as a substitute only once, before his season was ended by the cruciate knee injury which he is suffered in the Europa League quarter-final against Anderlecht.
Ibra is currently recovering from it after undergoing a surgery in the United States and may continue his rehabilation work at United’s Carrington training ground.
Zlatan’s departure would surely mean a big money arrival at Old Trafford and that is some positive to take. As much as we’d all like to see a big name striker join the ranks at Manchester United, it would also be delightful to see Jose Mourinho enter the season with Martial and Rashford as the main strikers. Of course, it would be a huge gamble as there’d be too much pressure for the youngsters to handle but given the amount of talent the two players have, I wouldn’t be surprised if they fire United to a league title.
Nevertheless, we lack depth in our squad and the safest thing to do would be to sign a new striker if Zlatan leaves us this summer.
