What’s it going to take for Manchester United to get back in the Premier League title race and potentially catch table toppers Manchester City? The long awaited return of striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic could be key says fellow United center forward Romelu Lukaku. Ibrahimovic is slated to come back relatively soon, either late next month, or early in the month after that.
He is not training with the team right now, but he is at least doing outdoor drills again at the Carrington Training complex.
Lukaku has been in a drought lately, as he hasn’t scored for United in his last seven games. However, he did bag a brace last night for Belgium, in an international friendly, and after the game he compared his abilities in the box to a leopard.
The Belgian also told Sky Sports News (transcript Daily Mail) that the addition of Ibrahimovic will help him and the team. He sees it as not competition but complementary at the position.
“It motivates me really, because he’s another good player to add to the squad,” Lukaku said.
“When you face a team like us it’s difficult for opponents. Ibrahimovic coming back will help us chase Manchester City.”
Ibrahimovic, who’s been out of action since suffering severe knee ligament damage in the Europa League round of quarter finals last April expressed similar sentiment about Lukaku just before Halloween. The Swede said that United’s £75 million addition from Everton this past summer will just make his life easier.
Lukaku got off to a scorching hot start at United, as did the team this season. However, as the 24-year-old’s form cooled, so did the Red Devils. Of course, a whole lot of that has had to do with the level of the opposition. United faced much weaker opponents earlier on this season.
“That’s the sort of thing you have to go through in the season, but now there are players coming back from injury and hopefully we can deliver performances even better than at the start of the season,’ he summated
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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