ESPN FC's Craig Burley discusses Zlatan Ibrahimovic's importance to Manchester United.
"I came like a king, left like a legend," was Zlatan Ibrahimovic's description of his four years as Paris Saint-Germain's main man. The plan was the same for Manchester United.
So far, so good? It is all but guaranteed Ibrahmovic will be United's starting striker on Wednesday night against Hull City. Barring injury, he will play the full 90 minutes, just as in each of his 31 previous matches. A goal is also likely; he has struck 19 so far, his 14 Premier League strikes making him the top division's second-top scorer behind Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez and Chelsea's Diego Costa on 15.
For years, United's commercial department craved a marketable icon and Ibrahimovic, signed as a free agent after leaving PSG last summer, was its dream come true. On Instagram, Paul Pogba trails in the wake of the Swede's 22.3 million followers by an almighty 10.1 million. Last week, almost 2.4 million people watched an uneventful clip of Ibrahimovic in sponsor-endorsed winter woollies at United's Aon Training Complex.
Ibrahimovic has been the short-term fix that has worked for all parties, save for Wayne Rooney, yesterday's man at 31 as compared to Ibrahimovic's 35. Relevance faded, benched and having now become the club's all-time leading scorer, Rooney's days are now numbered. Should a suitable berth be found, be that in China, the United States or even back at Everton, then United will surely not stand in his way.
By turning to the striker he previously worked with at Inter Milan in 2009, parachuting in a player whose beyond-confident personality make him the dominant dressing-room figure, Jose Mourinho weaned the club off Rooney, whose decline was poorly managed by both David Moyes and Louis van Gaal. But how long should Ibrahimovic be kept around?
Are United too reliant on a player with a strictly limited shelf life, despite Michael Andersson, his mentor as a youth at Malmo, suggesting this month he can be still be a star in his 40s?
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored 19 goals in 31 appearances in all competitions so far this season.
Last week, in his interview with the BBC, Sir Alex Ferguson suggested United would be competing at the top of the table with Chelsea if they had been able to turn more of their eight drawn matches into victories. The chief reason for that is United's paltry Premier League goals tally of 33, 10 fewer than Manchester City, the second-lowest scorers within the top six.
There, Ibrahimovic shoulders significant blame. October's 0-0 home draw with Burnley, the sole point Sean Dyche's team have collected away from Turf Moor, was sealed by a clumsy last-second miss from the Swede. The Premier League's official statisticians suggest "Ibra" has missed more "big chances" than any other player -- 12, significantly ahead of second-placed Benik Afobe's eight for Bournemouth. On 90, he has also taken the most shots of any player.
When United were on an autumnal run of one win in eight Premier League matches, a slump that still keeps them back in sixth, Ibrahimovic went seven matches without scoring. Mourinho's style of play, centred around his 6-foot-5 target man, was blunted. The situation was rectified by some adjustments in midfield. Michael Carrick and Henrikh Mkhitaryan were introduced and United won nine matches in succession, but one-dimensional tactics were in evidence during the 1-1 draws with both Liverpool and Stoke, and last week's 2-1 EFL Cup semifinal second leg loss at Hull.
Beyond Ibrahimovic, United's next highest scorers in the Premier League are Pogba and Juan Mata on four each. Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford, last year's breakout stars, have scored two and three respectively. Pushed to the wings, they are starved of opportunities in the central position from which both have delivered match-winning performances.
They are working alongside one of the best strikers of the 21st Century, whose devotional attitude to physical conditioning should provide a long term example. But there is short term pain for both, not least that their jet-propelled runs down the flanks are less useful when the target for their crosses or through balls is markedly slower, and often dropping deeper into midfield.
Similar goes for Pogba, whose instinct to charge beyond the main striker from midfield has been curbed. If Antoine Griezmann arrives from Atletico Madrid this summer, as widely speculated, the Frenchman would add zip to United's somewhat slow-coach attack, but would he be in tandem with Ibrahimovic?
The possibility of an extension to a one-year deal was mentioned publicly in November by both player and manager but little has been mentioned since. Both parties have further options to hand.
Like Rooney, lucrative moves to China and America could yet tempt Ibrahimovic, having successfully quietened those who doubted he could cut it in England.
And even if he probably left it too late to become a United legend, a true showman always leave his audience wanting more.
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