Could Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s best move be to Arsenal, Manchester United, or elsewhere?

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3. Manchester United

Speaking of Jose, there is every indication that he will sign for United, and his report pre-contract basically means that the Old Trafford outfit would have to pay him a princely sum if they don’t come to an agreement before 1st June. Whether Sir Alex Ferguson signs off on the hire is difficult to say, but one thing is for sure – keeping Louis Van Gaal will most likely destroy any chance of getting Zlatan, with the Swede famously referring to LVG as a “pompous a**e”.

On the field, United could definitely use his quality, despite the Marcus Rashford phenomenon and Anthony Martial’s solid debut season. Rooney is probably on the downward slope, but it speaks volumes of United’s lack of attacking quality that the England man is the club’s leading scorer with seven Premier League goals despite a campaign riddled with injuries and disappointments. It is even scarier to imagine that five of those goals came during a hot streak in February.

Manchester United have far too often enjoyed games of meaningless possession that has seen them take an average of three fewer shots per game and a underwhelming 11 per game. Hitting the target has been problematic, as a pedestrian 51% shots on target ratio shows (Spurs are at 69% with City and Liverpool in the 60s too), and shots inside the box have been few and far between, as only 6 teams have fewer than the once mighty United. At 1.2 goals per game, the team’s attack is poor, despite posting a higher than league average conversion rate from inside the box at over 15.5% – the league average is 13.4%. Jesse Lingard’s 20% conversion rate and Martial’s 16.7% have been really helpful in getting the most out of this side limited by performance, tactics and injuries.

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With 4.7 shots per game, and 1.4 chances created, the Swede would bolster the limited United attack all by himself, to say nothing of his 11 assists – the same number that Juan Mata, Wayne Rooney and Martial combined! Indeed, his 27 goals thus far equates to 71% of the season total of The Red Devils’ entire squad! If we took away the goal totals of Jesse Lingard (4), Marcus Rashford (3), Memphis (2) and Januzaj (1), in their combined 2700 minutes on the field, United would have just one more than Zlatan’s 27 in 1939 minutes. Sure, there is some positional overlap with Rooney, and it’s hard to see all three of Zlatan, Rooney and Martial playing given the potential open nature to the line-up, but a club that spent £250 million on a collection of injury-prone players, past their prime stars, and decent; but not top-class, midfielders, could certainly think of worse ways than throwing some 20-30 million at Zlatan.

So, where do you think Zlatan Ibrahimovic would fit in best? Leave your thoughts in the comments below or on twitter @TBRFootball .

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