Zlatan’s return would bring new year cheer
THE wait goes on.
United have already pulled off the surprise of the summer by gazumping Chelsea in the race to sign Romelu Lukaku.
And while it seems that fourth summer signing will elude the Reds, it is unlikely Jose Mourinho will hit the panic button come the turn of the year.
The Portuguese, generally, does not use the January transfer window to make big-money signings unless he allows a player to leave as a gesture of goodwill.
When Mourinho made the bold decision to let both Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis Depay depart at the turn of the year, he even decided against bringing in reinforcements.
The United manager sees January as a bailout of sorts and prefers to trust the group he painstakingly assembled to get his side over the line.
There have been a handful of exceptions over the years, including Carlos Alberto, Goran Pandev and Diego Lopez, who all made an immediate impact.
But, if Mourinho had his way, he would cut the length of the January transfer window to two weeks – such is his faith in his squad.
That is particularly true of his second season in charge of a club, his favourite period, when his bond with his players is never stronger.
Instead, to cover injuries or provide a fillip in the second half of the season, Mourinho tends to go for short-term deals if he does enter the market.
Maniche and Emmanuel Adebayor are just some of the mid-season loan deals he has gotten over the line in the last decade or so.
And, generally, it is only when a big name leaves that he can justify a sizable purchase.
Mourinho only moved for Mohamed Salah after Juan Mata asked to go in 2013 and only signed Juan Cuadrado when Andre Schurrle was on his way to Wolfsburg a year later.
Neither were roaring successes at Stamford Bridge – which may have had a bearing on Mourinho’s attitude towards the window ever since.
But, as Paul Scholes and Henrik Larsson previously proved, a midseason veteran could yet raise weary winter spirits.
With his favoured No.10 shirt still vacant, all roads point to Zlatan Ibrahimovic re-joining the club as a dressing room colossus.
Ibrahimovic is a walking reminder of what is possible under Mourinho and the pair share a remarkable relationship after previously spending just one season together at Inter Milan.
Ibrahimovic has relished that ambassadorial role – from mentoring Marcus Rashford to bizarrely slicing a giant block of swiss cheese at a Tag Heuer event.
Tellingly, the Swede has remained in the headlines – even after his horrific knee injury in April – and that is significant given how Mourinho usually ignores injured players.
Perhaps he will get that fourth signing, after all.