See, this is where I disagree with you because it is such an off-handed comment. Ligue 1 is probably the most physically intensive domestic league outside of the Premier League with a lot of athletes in defensive positions, as well as the advocacy of at times negative tactics by the managers - to throttle the opposition's attack. Yes, the overall quality isn't very high, and that should be factored in - but to say that Zlatan waltzes through games is way over the top because a lot of the defenses he faces are very rigorous. These days he essentially plays as a false 9 - with his game based on movement and positioning - which he has seemingly optimized, and that doesn't necessitate running around the pitch - so the fact that he's in his mid 30s won't be that big of a deal - because the things that he is good at - finding pockets of space is where Premier League defenses struggle by and large.
His technique is still superb, physically - he'd dwarf most Premier league defenders, he won't go on lung-bursting runs - but that wasn't his style anyway, and he still has a cannon of a shot with incredible control to boot, and a great nose for where the goal is. There are very few downsides to a 2 year deal when he'll be joining on a Bosman. People equate Falcao and Schweinsteiger with him - and he didn't suffer a potentially career ending injury like the former - who was also a pure target striker than forward, and he isn't a box-to-box midfielder who has to cover acres of space like the latter. If folk want to compare certain characteristics wrt Zlatan then that's fair enough, but loose stereotypes like 'waltzing the league' or 'Falcao and Schweinsteiger were old" (not aimed at you, specifically) - are rather unfair because each transfer should be based on individual merit, and the timing of it.
And in terms of individual assessment - it can be argued that in his 20s, Zlatan was a wasteful, and at times unintelligent player who didn't maximize the impact of his technical skillset. And it's only now, in his thirties that he's fully mastered the cerebral aspect to it - which has allowed him to be precise in a manner that he wasn't in the past. We're likely in the latter half of his peak, counter-intuitive as it might seem, because in a lot of ways, Zlatan has always proven to be an exception to the rule.
Why risk it when he's developing at a good rate, and there's no need to force a positional change when we can have a quality addition at #9 - who Martial can learn from? Why potentially derail our season by messing around with the progression of arguably our brightest attacking talent? I fail to see a logic in this to be honest. Everyone agrees that Martial will eventually play as a center forward, no doubt about it. But it's probably a season or two too early because his hold up play, and shooting technique still leaves a lot to be desired. Those things take time to polish, he needs to mature further before being thrust into that role - and being ahead of schedule might actually be counterproductive in his case when he's coming along at a good pace out wide.
