What’s the story?
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has said that he has no plans to sign a new striker in the ongoing January transfer window, and also stated that any serious injury to talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic would be a ‘disaster’ for the club.
Mourinho was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail, “I know we've a lot of competitions to play but where is the striker to come here with that quality to play for United? Where is that striker, where is the club who can let him come? That's not something for the January market; it's probably something for the summer.”
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Traditionally the January transfer window has been predominantly used by struggling teams in a bid to reverse their fortunes. This also implies that the best players aren’t always available at the beginning of the year; which also explains the reluctance on the part of the bigger teams to spend their resources during the ongoing window.
The lack of quality players available in the ongoing transfer market, as compared to the summer window is the main reason why Mourinho is not interested in signing anyone at the moment.
Good performances from Manchester United so far this season, haven’t always ensured favourable results, with the team dropping points from winning positions on more than one occasion.
Also read: "Listen to me, not your agent," Mourinho tells sparkling Martial
However, things have been looking a whole lot better for them of late with a run of five wins in their last five Premier League games ensuring Mourinho’s men head into 2017 with renewed optimism.
Ibrahimovic acknowledged the fact that United are heading in the right direction and hopes that they can carry on their winning momentum for as long as possible.
The heart of the matter
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been in fine form for United since his summer move from PSG and is currently the side’s top scorer with 12 goals, and three assists to go with it.
Not only has he hit the ground running at the age of 35 in the Premier League, the big Swede has also claimed to have sprinkled some of his magic on Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The Armenian struggled to find a place in Mourinho’s starting line-up in the early stages of the season, but has been on a resurgent run of late and most notably, marked United’s Boxing Day victory over Sunderland with a stunning scorpion kick goal.
The pair has formed a formidable partnership since their summer moves to Old Trafford and was once again in the thick of things as United marked Sir Alex Ferguson’s 75th birthday on Saturday, with a trademark comeback win over Middlesbrough at Old Trafford.
What next?
Although Zlatan has been in red hot form of late, Mourinho will most likely give his talisman a break sooner rather than later, given that he has never experienced such a clutter of fixtures before.
Having started all of the festive fixtures, so far, it’ll be interesting to see whether or not Ibrahimovic is in the playing eleven for tonight’s visit to West Ham United. Further, even if the Swede does start the game, he will most probably be rested for Saturday’s FA Cup encounter at home to Reading.
Sportskeeda’s take
Ibrahimovic had many doubters following his summer move to Manchester United, however, he has managed to silence his detractors with some splendid performances. More importantly, the 35-year-old’s contributions have been indispensable to United’s resurgent run of late.
In fact, the Swede’s performance in front of goal is one of the main reasons why United are still in with a chance of a top-four finish. Therefore, it is not surprising that Jose Mourinho fears losing his No. 9 to injury.
As far as Mourinho’s January transfer plans are concerned, his unwillingness to sign players is perfectly justified given that he has the likes of Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford as cover for Ibrahimovic, should the Swede pick up an injury.
But perhaps most importantly, Mourinho seems to have discovered his best starting line-up of which Zlatan is a vital cog; and given that the Red Devils are in the midst of a winning streak, there is no need to ring the changes.
