Manchester United: Zlatan Ibrahimovich to miss rest of season with knee injury

Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovich will miss the rest of the season after injuring his right knee during the game against Anderlecht.

Zlatan Ibrahimovich left Manchester United‘s Europa League quarter final with a knee injury, and is now set to miss the remainder of the campaign, reports the Daily Mail. Ibrahimovich picked up the injury as the game was tied and approaching extra time.

United eventually advanced thanks to a Marcus Rashford goal in the second half of extra time. But the Red Devils will now have to complete the rest of their fixtures without their top scorer and talisman, Ibrahimovich.

There’s even the possibility that the Swede will never be seen in Manchester United colors again. The 35-year-old is out of contract in the summer, and is yet to commit to another year at Old Trafford.

Nevertheless, Ibrahimovich has had an amazing debut season in England, scoring 28 goals in all competitions. Where would United be without him? That’s a complicated question to answer, but Jose Mourinho might at least get an indication between now and the end of the season.

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Despite the goalscoring exploits of Ibrahimovich, he does tend to overshadow the players around him somewhat. Throughout his career, Zlatan has shined, but nobody else really does. That’s just how it goes. At United that has proved the case once again.

With Ibrahimovich on the bench for United’s game against Chelsea last week, Rashford came to the fore and put in a fantastic performance. Again in the Europa League, once Zlatan left the field, Rashford came good to score a goal.

Mourinho will be ruing the loss of Ibrahimovich, but the one opportunity the United boss will now have is to see how the likes of Rashford or Anthony Martial can carry the team as the main striker. Both get swept to the side somewhat with Ibrahimovich around.

Even if Zlatan did not return next year, if Antoine Griezmann was to arrive, then once again the spotlight and focus would fall elsewhere. Most importantly, so would the trust. This should be a chance for a few to prove themselves to Mourinho and make a believer out of their boss.

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Ibrahimovich gives the team certain things that nobody else can. But the same can be said of the likes of Rashford and Martial. Rashford’s pace to burst in behind the Chelsea defense last week put him in position to score a goal that Ibrahimovich could not at this stage of his career.

Martial, too, has blistering pace, but has just lost his way this season compared to last. Wayne Rooney is also still lurking around in the shadows. Mourinho has options. Now he just has to see if any of them can take this chance with both hands.

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