Zlatan Ibrahimovic Transfer Speculation

YouOnlyLiveTwice said:
I would label him as a second striker and i don't think he would give us full value as the furthest forward striker. I don't like the idea of him as a false 9 either.
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Well second striker is still a striker. Plus he actually led the line for France in the Euros as the solitary striker and he wasn't a false 9.

There's always the possibility that we can play with 2 strikers which I think would suit both Martial and Rashford. Neither one of them is comfortable as an inverted winger (particularly Rashford) in my view.
 
Unless United promised guaranteed start in important games, I'd also leave for LA if I were him. Makes a bid for Griezeman/Kane/Whoever difficult to calibrate.
 
If he went I'd be gutted, but on the other hand, I would get over it fast as he's 36!

We'd have to replace him with a top class player.
 
I'm going to get a few people disagreeing with me for this but although I would be happy enough if he stayed, there would be some part of me that would be pretty fine with it. We could get a younger striker in who might stay for years and that would give me a greater feeling that we are on our way back and the league title will be coming back soon.
 
Devil may care said:
No he didn't, he played off Giroud or from the RW at the Euros.
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Ah shit I completely forgot about Giroud :lol:

That's for correcting me. But I'm pretty sure Moussa Sissoko was playing RM/RW and Griezman was playing centrally. Or did I get this wrong too?
 
I honestly wouldn't be too bothered. I think we play extremely one-dimensionally when he's on the pitch. Everything must go through him. Selling him and getting in a younger player (or God forbid, playing Martial in his best position...) might be the best thing for the team.
 
MadMike said:
Ah shit I completely forgot about Giroud :lol:

That's for correcting me. But I'm pretty sure Moussa Sissoko was playing RM/RW and Griezman was playing centrally. Or did I get this wrong too?
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France started off trying a 4-3-3 with Griezmann on the right of the front 3, then changed it to Griezmann in his Atleti role off Giroud with Pogba in a 2 man midfield.
 
I don't see this one materialising. He's very much Mourinho's guy and I don't think he'd be content with leaving before having the opportunity to at least challenge for the league title.
 
Count Orduck said:
I honestly wouldn't be too bothered. I think we play extremely one-dimensionally when he's on the pitch. Everything must go through him. Selling him and getting in a younger player (or God forbid, playing Martial in his best position...) might be the best thing for the team.
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There's nothing to suggest so far that Martial's best position is as a striker.
 
I'd only be okay with him leaving if it meant that Griezmann is coming 100%.

I think if we qualified for the CL, it might tempt him to stay(I know he said he wouldn't leave because of that, but I don't think he was being honest).
 
I wouldn't lose sleep if he moved on. I would like for us to play a lot more dynamic football. He's been a great presence and a leader for us at United so far but I don't see him replicating the same form next season. I think with the renewed sense of hope and ambition that Mourinho has managed with the arrival of Zlatan and Pogba, we can safely say that we have the drive to win and we could achieve that without Zlatan. But like I said in earlier posts, I would like to see more dynamic football and fast paced United going for the jugular on the counter with signings like Dembele and Mbappe.
 
YouOnlyLiveTwice said:
Put the money on a top class striker and drop the idea of Griezmann. Go with a 4-3-3 and play our players in their best positions.
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That should see us definitely compete for top 3 position, at the very least.
But I would want to have Ibra as an option in our team. The guy scores goals and we need goals.

cyberman said:
Im sure a lot of clubs would want Ibra.
Not exactly major news.
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Precisely. A player who is scoring a large number of goals will be in demand by a lot of clubs, who can't afford a big transfer fee.
 
Ibra has expressed the idea of conquering the US. Wouldn't be surprised if he left for MLS; LA is the best team in the league, big city, expand his brand, etc. Not like he'd be playing in Kansas City or some such shit hole. Wouldn't be surprised if he stayed at United either.
 
Come on Ibra, one more season at the top. It would be a mistake to bow out while he's still this good in my opinion, I know he's 35 but why stop?
 
I hope he stays with us another season, but if we get Griezmann I wont be too dissapointed.
 
I can't see him going to play in a diddy league for the money, doesn't seem to fit with what he's said in the past about wanting a challenge. I think we could get another good year or two from him so would be sad to see him go if he did. Still, we're building for the future so it wouldn't be a disaster if he left in the summer.
 
shaky said:
I can't see him going to play in a diddy league for the money, doesn't seem to fit with what he's said in the past about wanting a challenge. I think we could get another good year or two from him so would be sad to see him go if he did. Still, we're building for the future so it wouldn't be a disaster if he left in the summer.
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Well I honestly think that if he would like to play in the MLS he could do that when he's no longer as good as he's now. He could play there when he's 39-40. Don't think he has to be at today's level to be among the best over there. At least that's the feeling I get.
 
Cantona_Forever said:
From CL football to MLS.. :rolleyes:

Ladies and gentlemen, the reason is clear now. It's not CL. It's not ambition. It's better payment. This is agent talking to force us to increase Ibra wage. That's all.
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Ummmm...you do notice he is not playing CL football at United right and might not be next season if he stays.
 
Looking at it objectively, LA would be a terrific move for Ibra. Ideally, it would be nice to have him for another season but it's not worth losing any sleep over. We'll most likely sign a big name attacker either way :drool:
 
AndyJ1985 said:
I actually wouldn't be that upset if he left, provided we invested in a world class forward. I feel our reliance on him is holding us back, a bit like when we had RVN.
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buckooo1978 said:
as good as he is I feel exactly the same

could see some young fast exciting forwards including Martial, Rashford and one or two others really prospering

loved that 06/07 season when Rooney, Ronaldo and Saha formed a cracking front 3
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This is where I'm at too. He's been good, but I'm not sure he's been as good as his production would suggest. It sometimes feels like he slows us down too much, and we don't have the runners from midfield/wings to make his constant dropping deep anywhere near the optimal style for our CF.
 
I'd not be too bothered if he left. He has come in this season and said what he was going to do, score goals, but he was always only a short term solution. I wouldn't mind if he stayed and played a Rooney type role as in he's not first choice, but he wouldn't go for that. We now need to be looking to the future here and we also need more pace up front. We are way too reliant on Ibra when he plays and for all his undoubted ability, he has played too much football this season when he didn't have to. It's not like he leaves and we don't replace him, we would. I've no doubt Griezmann and his advisors, and any other legitimate target we are looking at are watching how this develops
 
I do think Zlatan want to stay here. He said himself that he won't play when he feels he's not good enough. He doesn't want to play for a club just because he's Zlatan, he wants to be the best. Maybe he just feels he's starting to lose it and don't want to bring us down, Zlatan won't ever be satisfied with being a bench-warmer, but at the age of 35 he has started to doubt himself and his qualities, especially with all the big misses this season.

If that's the way he feels then L.A Galaxy would be a great move for him and a great city for his family to settle down in. But if he stays, I'm sure he has given it a lot of thought and made the right choice.
 
I don't think there's any reason for him to want to leave. And no reason for Mourinho letting him go either. With him and Griezmann together next year, I think we'll have a shot at the title. But we do have to strengthen in other areas as well to realistically have a go for the title.
 
I think he'd want to win the Premier league before he leaves.

If the money is right though, who knows?
 
Wouldn't mind if he stays or goes tbh.

I like him and what he's brought, but I do think the numbers are a little misleading - he plays every game as our focal striker and I really think a lot of PL strikers would have similar numbers if given that much game time in this team.

And to be honest, although I find his performances at his age inspiring, I'd prefer United to have a peak era striker, for the wages we pay, I think we deserve that.

Also, I think if he goes it gives us chance to unstable a rival, whether it's Kane or Sanchez I'd really like to see us start using our muscle to actually weaken rival teams as well as strengthen our own.

Saying that, if he wants to stay on for 1 more season then great, but no more than that.

If he's actually pushing for a 2 year extension I'd definitely rather get rid now.
 
I wouldn't be overly worried if he left. Would force José to find a replacement now rather than wait but that might not be a bad thing. Wish we had got him earlier but will always remember him fondly even if it was only the one season.
 
You'd think after the shite few seasons we've had that fans would appreciate someone of Ibra's calibre carrying us. Genuinely can't believe people suggesting he's holding us back and even worse that Martial may do better.

Some are far too obsessed with 'dynamism' to enjoy anything else, its a tired phrase on here.

Unless he thinks we can win the league next season i think he'll go as he'll want to conquer another league. Even if we go PL proven we may find he's not so easily replaceable.
 
Let's get Rooney to grow a goatee and send him instead. They'll never notice.
 
Cantona_Forever said:
From CL football to MLS.. :rolleyes:

Ladies and gentlemen, the reason is clear now. It's not CL. It's not ambition. It's better payment. This is agent talking to force us to increase Ibra wage. That's all.
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He's wildly exceeded expectations, he does deserve move for the next year.
 
littleman said:
He's wildly exceeded expectations, he does deserve move for the next year.
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Sure, he does deserve it. I was only talking about his (agent) excuse, namely CL, though. It's clear the main motive behind his move story is for bigger wage from us (and maybe more years), or from others.
 
Smores said:
You'd think after the shite few seasons we've had that fans would appreciate someone of Ibra's calibre carrying us. Genuinely can't believe people suggesting he's holding us back and even worse that Martial may do better.

Some are far too obsessed with 'dynamism' to enjoy anything else, its a tired phrase on here.

Unless he thinks we can win the league next season i think he'll go as he'll want to conquer another league. Even if we go PL proven we may find he's not so easily replaceable.
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Strange and I agree but, Inter-'fans', Milan-'fans', PSG-'fans' and national team-'fans' have all said this about him. Why? I really don't know.
 
I thought it was the club who had the option to extend his contract for another year?
 
JON.B said:
I thought it was the club who had the option to extend his contract for another year?
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Yes, but maybe he doesn't want a 1 year extention? Maybe he wants 2 or 3 years, because of his contribution? Then they need to negotiate...
 
Not bothered in the slightest if he leaves.

He's done better than I expected. I thought he'd get 15 PL goals in 28 starts but then again, I assumed he'd get substituted after an hour or so when he wasn't performing well.

Our attack as a whole has underperformed. Difficult to know how much of that is the system, how much is Zlatan's ordinary conversion rate and how much is the other players. Regardless, expecting to find another 15-20 goals a season while keeping Zlatan as the main central striker seems overly optimistic to me.
 
I too wouldn't be very bothered if he leaves. Yes he's a smashing player but we wouldn't have a smashing player in him for that long anyway. The older he gets the more immobile he gets and while he may produce nice stats even then, the unit would be held back in many ways. So yeah, great if he stays but I'm alright with him going too. It's hardly as if we've been challenging this season with him and he's carrying us to incredible heights. He's doing superbly as an individual but as a team it wouldn't be this incredible loss we couldn't deal with. Particularly given our deep pockets.
 
markelphick said:
I hope he stays with us another season, but if we get Griezmann I wont be too dissapointed.
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To be honest I'd actually prefer that. Griezemann is a brilliant player and would suit our team perfectly.
 
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