Manchester United are set to offer Swedish striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic a coaching role in order to ensure that he continues his stay at Old Trafford, according to Starsport. The striker who arrived on a free transfer has been a revelation since his move to the Manchester club and continues to defy his age.
According to reports, the club and backroom staff have been very impressed with the Swede’s work ethic and commitment towards the club. His professionalism has earned him plaudits publicly from players and his manager alike and this, in turn, has led to the club seeking a long-term solution to keep the Swede at Old Trafford.
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Mourinho has often complimented the Swede and earlier this week stated, “I'm so pleased for him [Ibrahimovic]. He is the kind of player who doesn't need to prove anything to anyone but when he decided to come to England for the last period of his career -- to the most difficult championship in the world -- I think he proved he is a superman in his mentality. What he is doing at 35 is a dream for every striker of 25 in the Premier League.”
And by offering a coaching role with the club, they hope they can convince the Swedish star to extend his stay and dismiss any further potential offers that may come along his way.
The much-travelled striker has already scored 11 Premier League goals, and is the club’s leading scorer in the Premier League this season. In fact, his tally currently places him third on the list of top scorers this season with Diego Costa leading the charge with13 goals for Chelsea, who are also the leaders of the Premier League this season, 6 points clear of their nearest rivals Liverpool.
Reliance on Ibrahimovic
Earlier this week, Mourinho also said that the over-reliance of the team on Ibrahimovic's goals is not an issue: “No, I don't care. We need to score more goals than the opponents and we managed to do that in the last three matches. We took nine points in a period when we really needed them. We were tired of playing well and drawing matches.”
The Portuguese manager has shown constant faith in the striker and the duo share a special bond, which goes back to their days in Inter Milan.
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With almost 53% of his shots on target and scoring a goal per 131 minutes, Ibrahimovic’s stats puts him ahead of more established Premier League strikers such as Harry Kane of Spurs, Lukaku of Everton, Benteke and a host of other names.
Only Aguero, Costa and Sanchez have better goals to minute ratio ahead of the Swede and this fact has indeed been highlighted as Mourinho gushed over the Swede’s impact at Old Trafford stating, “I am very lucky as he is not just a normal player. He is not a player who plays in a position where he can hide a little bit. He plays with experience.”
