Manchester United Transfer News: Red Devils Must Ignore Zlatan Ibrahimovic Talk

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of the most popular and talented strikers in the world, so he seems like a great fit for Manchester United on the surface. If the opportunity to acquire the Swedish star presents itself, though, the Red Devils should turn the other cheek.

The Ibrahimovic to United talk has heated up a bit recently due to comments made by former Man U goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel. The Danish keeper starred for Manchester United from 1991 through 1999, and he believes that Ibrahimovic belongs at Old Trafford.

According to Jim Daly of Mirror Football, Schmeichel said that Ibrahimovic was "born to play" for the Red Devils.

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

I think our supporters would love him, if he ever made that move, he wouldn't move again.

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Schmeichel even compared Ibrahimovic to French forward Eric Cantona, who bounced around from club to club before finally finding a home with Manchester United. Cantona scored 64 goals for United from 1992 through 1997, and he is now one of the most beloved players in team history.

Ibrahimovic does have similarities to Cantona in that his volatile personality has sent him in many different directions over the course of his career, but he has actually been far more productive than Cantona was before he made the trek to Old Trafford.

The big Swede already has 269 career goals, including a career-high 35 last year for Paris Saint-Germain. Ibrahimovic also netted 35 goals in the previous season as a member of AC Milan, so the 31-year-old dynamo is actually getting better with age.

One has to believe that Ibrahimovic would want to play in England at some point before the end of his career, but Manchester United shouldn't be the team to make it happen, at least not in the near future. The Red Devils already have an abundance of talent to manage up-top as it is, with Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez jockeying for playing time.

It's possible that Rooney could be transferred to Chelsea or Arsenal as the Blues and Gunners are very much interested in the want-away star, according to Simon Mullock of Mirror Football, but bringing in another ball-demanding player like Ibrahimovic would put new manager David Moyes in the exact same quandary that Manchester United is currently trying to avoid.

There is no question that it would be interesting to see how his physical style would mesh with the rest of United's offensive weapons, but the likelihood of drama and controversy is far too high. Besides, it seems unlikely that PSG would be interested in selling him at this point since they acquired Edinson Cavani from Napoli to play alongside the big man.

Despite Ibrahimovic's penchant for acting out on the pitch when things don't go his way, Schmeichel feels as though the Red Devils would be able to make the marriage work. Schmeichel pointed to the fact that Manchester United brought in troubled players in the past and figured out ways to make them comfortable.

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We're a very big football club and we've had players behaving in different ways throughout the history of the club.

The managers have always been able to handle that and get the maximum out of the players.

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Schmeichel's point is well taken, and he may be right, but he simply isn't taking club needs into account. United already have more strikers than they know what to do with, and adding Ibrahimovic to the mix would do more harm than good regardless of his elite skill level.

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