Latest reports have confirmed that Manchester United are set to lose Zlatan Ibrahimovic to LA Galaxy this year. The Swede has experienced a frustrating time since he was injured last April. His horrific knee injury ruled him out for the remainder of last season and the initial few months of the current campaign.
The 36-year-old has enjoyed an illustrious career playing for different top clubs. He has featured for sides like Barcelona, Paris-Saint Germain, Inter Milan and AC Milan and Ajax before joining Manchester United in 2016.
Zlatan enjoyed a fantastic debut season in England. One of the most dynamic characters of football, the Swede scored 27 goals last season in 45 games before getting injured. The veteran returned to full match fitness at the toe end of last year but immediately suffered another setback that has ruled him out for another month. He is said to be close to a return to first-team action and should be ready to play by the beginning of February.
However, reports believe that Swede could well be on his way to the United States of America with LA Galaxy interested in securing his services. The deal was close to success last time as well but it collapsed after Zlatan suffered a serious knee injury. However, it would seem that the 36-year-old is likely to see things go through this time.
The financials of the deal is yet to be worked out, however. Zlatan will surely be one of the highest earners in LA and the US-based club will have to fork out a healthy amount of their bank balance to land the Swede.
United’s signing of Alexis Sanchez has added an extra dimension to their play this season. The exciting Chilean attacker primarily plays as a winger but can also play as a forward should his team need him to. Having Sanchez as a backup forward for Romelu Lukaku with Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial also in the ranks will mean that Jose Mourinho will no longer be dependent on Zlatan. This would decrease the significance of the Swede’s role at Manchester and could perhaps signal his end at the club.
Moreover, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are playing the best possible football in Europe at the moment. They are dispatching sides with absolute ease and the fluidity of attack looks unstoppable. The Citizens have scored almost 90 goals in their domestic and European matches and are set to take home the Premier League trophy come May. This would mean that although Jose will be focused on making the challenge tough for City, his primary concern will be to build a team to challenge for the title next season.
Zlatan’s age will mean that he is unlikely to pull off another full season at England and hence Jose will want to use the remainder of the current campaign as a buffer to phase out the Swede and have him replaced with younger players.
