Manchester United fans seem to be very excited by the amazing start Zlatan Ibrahimovic has made to life in the Premier League; But maybe we should be more worried about the long-term impact the former Sweden international is having on youth development at the club.
There is no denying that Zlatan has made a very impressive start to life in the premier league. The new Manchester United number 9 has 3 goals in his first 2 games and received the man of the match award for his performance against Southampton last week.
Is Zlatan costing homegrown talent a place?
His presence however has meant that so far home-grown talent Marcus Rashford has seen no playing time thus far. With new England boss Sam Allardyce reportedly leaning towards dropping the 18-year-old from the squad for his first game in charge.
Red devils boss Jose Mourinho may yet consider a loan move for the academy graduate however given Zlatans age it seems more likely he will keep Rashford as a backup for the 34-year-old.
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A long season ahead
This should worry most fans. It is worth noting that while Zlatan is grabbing goals and headlines, it’s only 2 games in to the season!! There is still an exceptionally long way to go yet, with 36 more premier league games remaining. Not to mention League Cup, FA Cup and Euro Cup campaigns. Jose Mourinho has already indicated he is committed to winning all trophies this season. So there will be chances for some fringe players at the club, such as Rashford, to impress.
Injury concerns
But there is also a very big risk of Zlatan getting injured. Last season under Louis Van Gaal, Manchester United were actually doing quite well until injury ravaged the squad. If Mourinho loses his “messiah” to injury, the genuine worry is that he has no backup plan. Last year defense took the biggest hit and we got to see some bright young talent step up and that was the silver lining.
Fire sale of youth
This year United have so far; Sold defenders Donald Love and Paddy McNair and loaned Adnan Januzaj to David Moyes’ Sunderland; Sold once extremely hotly tipped defender Tyler Blackett to championship team Reading; Loaned Cameron Borthwick-Jackson to Wolves and once again loaned out James Wilson out, this time to Derby County.
These are just the main done deals so far. Rumors have surfaced linking Phil Jones to Stoke City on a permanent deal.
So it seems that some fans fears about the era of Jose Mourinho and his completely awful record with youth development may well have been true.
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For now of course, Jose and Zlatan can bask in the praise being heaped upon them by the media, shareholders and bandwagon fans. But the underlying fear that once the honeymoon is over, even if they deliver the instant trophies they were brought in to win. That the legacy of Sir Alex Ferguson and the fundamentals that the club has been built around will be gone.
Manchester United a running the risk of taking the road previously travelled by Chelsea and Manchester City. Winning by any means, buying the title and not building for the future.
So while Zlatan’s star is burning bright so far, the lights are dimming on the Old Trafford youngsters.