Sridhar Bhamidi
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho admitted that his side is dependent on their star striker Romelu Lukaku until Zlatan Ibrahimovic returns from injury.
The 24-year-old Belgian forward joined the Red Devils only this summer from Everton and has settled into life pretty quickly. He has already scored 11 goals in 10 appearances for the club since his big-money move.
Mourinho, who has previously worked with Lukaku at Chelsea, initially set his sight on signing Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid. However, the Red Devils were stretched in the negotiations by the Spanish club forcing them to turn their attention to Lukaku.
The burly forward has started in a positive fashion by easing into his role and finding the net with clinical efficiency. The only match that the forward sat out was the 4-1 win over Burton Albion in the Carabao Cup.
According to latest reports, the Portuguese tactician reluctantly admits that he cannot rotate the strike until his Swedish superstar returns to action.
“Without Zlatan we cannot rotate the striker, especially because Marcus Rashford is playing also in other positions” said Mourinho.
“So until the moment we have Zlatan we cannot think about giving rest to our No. 9, the same way we give in other positions. We cannot do that.”
Despite his affinity for playing as a central striker, Marcus Rashford has been played on the wings by Mourinho. Even the absence of firepower isn’t forcing him to use the England striker up front.
Swedish superstar Ibrahimovic signed a new one-year deal with the Red Devils in August but is not expected to return to action at least until the end of this year following his knee injury.
Ibrahimovic had a cracking debut campaign at Old Trafford last season, and became a fan favourite. His goals and presence in the middle were huge for Mourinho last season that saw him win three titles.
The 35-year-old Ibrahimovic scored 28 times last season, which prompted the Old Trafford chiefs to offer him a new deal.
If he returns to action – which would be earlier than expected, thanks to the speedy recovery of the big man, how will Mourinho juggle his options? The Portuguese would be the envy of rival managers with the quality of strikers at his disposal.
However, both the players have similar styles and love to play as the lone striker. It is tough to see both of them playing together, which only gives a happy headache to Jose. Who wants to be Mourinho, now?
