Could Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo Play in the Same Team?

The annual transfer merry-go-round can throw up some fantastical rumours.

British tabloids specialise in light reading for football fans desperate for news relating to their favourite clubs and the world's best footballer.

Manchester United fans have been put through the mill this summer. The transfer window has been open a month and the club is yet to make a significant signing.

New manager David Moyes has found it near-impossible to make an early splash in his United tenure. His top targets have proved elusive to say the least.

That has not stopped the Daily Star, which has rejuvenated speculation linking Cristiano Ronaldo with an earth-shattering transfer back to Old Trafford.

According to the tabloid, "[Real Madrid president Florentino] Perez has also been talking to United over a deal to take Ronaldo back to Old Trafford."

Justification for this is based on Real attempting to sign Tottenham Hotspur superstar Gareth Bale as a potential replacement for the supposedly outgoing Ronaldo.

If that was not enough to make fans of the Red Devils salivate, a transfer report via the Daily Mail linked another world-class player with a move to Old Trafford.

Former United goalkeeper and club legend Peter Schmeichel told Swedish paper Expressen that Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic would be a perfect signing for Moyes and United.

"

You've got to ask Zlatan why he hasn't played in England yet, but I'd love to see him at Manchester United.

I don't know who he supports, but he's a born Manchester United player, he would be absolutely brilliant.

"

Whether this is just the great Dane stoking the fires, or if he knows more than he lets on, is unclear.

Ibrahimovic has been linked with United before, but never seriously.

Ultimately, there is little chance Moyes will sign either Ronaldo or Ibrahimovic , let alone both.

But for the sake of a good, old -fashioned football debate, it is worth asking: could the two behemoths of European football play in the same team?

The initial response to this question would be in asking if their respectively gargantuan egos would allow it?

Both are only truly comfortable being the most important player in their team. But with the respective quality of both, this has usually been the case.

The world cannot revolve around two suns.

If Moyes was trying to persuade both players to come to Manchester, he would certainly appeal to their will to win.

But it is difficult to imagine the two never getting into a few on-pitch squabbles.

The quality of the two is undeniable, but could they play in the same lineup?

Of the two, Ibrahimovic needs to play through the middle more. Both are at their best at the apex of their team's formation.

It would therefore be Ronaldo shunted out wide, most likely to the left flank.

In the long term, one cannot imagine the Portuguese superstar being content with a permanent wide role, rarely allowed to drift inside and play as a centre forward.

In November, 2012, Mino Raiola, Ibrahimovic's agent told Le Parisien , as quoted by Goal.com:

"

I am confident that Zlatan and Cristiano could achieve great things together at Paris.

Great players never have any problems to play together.

"

This final quote is key to answering the question posed at the top of the article.

There are many reasons to suggest why Ibrahimovic and Ronaldo could not play in the same team, and one for why they could.

Because they are the best. And the best always find a way to win.

Do you think Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo could play in the same XI?

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