Ibrahimovic arrival will please Rashford and Martial

After months of speculation, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has arrived at Manchester United to make a phenomenal mark in the Premier League.

Whether it’s the media that is excited at dedicating their back pages for the next year to the Swede star or fans alike rubbing their hands in excitement, in quiet fashion it might perhaps be Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford who will be the most ecstatic by the arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

For much of last season, it was in fact Martial and Rashford carrying the back of Manchester United’s attack and with it the hope of excitement in play through fearless trickery and goals. This was an unrealistic challenge for both of these players to have the burden on at the frontline of a club of United’s stature, yet they managed to thrive under it.

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Martial has arrived as an uncapped French international at 19 years old for a hefty fee of £36 million. With add-ons, a fee that rose to £58 million had many questioning the decision, labelling it as an extortionate fee to pay for a relatively unknown striker from AS Monaco. In all fairness, they weren’t wrong. It put Martial, 20, straight into the firing line for rival fans and the media to ridicule. However, ever since his debut goal against Liverpool they have had little to laugh about as he impressed with 11 goals and a whole new dimension of play at times adjacent to the mantra of Louis Van Gaal in his spell as manager.

Rashford had even less time to make a mark, only making his debut in surprising circumstances in February. The consistency in his performances did more than enough for him to warrant a starting place for the remainder of the season as he lit up the Premier League in unimaginable way that the hype around him led to an inclusion in England’s Euro 2016 squad. A player who has the feet of an 18-year-old, but the composure and decisiveness of a 28-year-old – he is already playing well beyond his years and will be an asset, much like Martial, going forward for the Old Trafford club.

It can be argued that Ibrahimovic’s place could threaten and limit the impact Martial, and especially Rashford, will have on the team next season. But living in the comfort of knowing that Jose Mourinho had 6 months in front of his TV to not miss a beat in Martial and Rashford’s progress will certainly mean that he will use them effectively as a new look attack will be sure to cause havoc amongst Premier League defences.

For months, the duo were carrying United in the spotlight where the team and manager were being scrutinised under the microscope – That would an unlikely scenario for the upcoming campaign as Mourinho and Zlatan’s egos alone will take all the headlines and allow Martial and Rashford to play under the freedom that they should ideally have played under last season.

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It will allow experienced heads like the 34-year-old to take the major share of burden in scoring goals whilst the two play off his experience and intellect to develop themselves into better players for the future.

Their individual cases are helped by the ability of Martial’s to play on the left-wing and Rashford’s to play on the right as both did for parts of last season.

The transfer of the recently retired Swedish international will allow a short stop-gap option of 1 or 2 years to be able to allow Rashford and Martial to transition into big game players on the biggest occasions for the one of the biggest clubs in the world.