Zlatan Ibrahimovic Will Bring Magic to Manchester United but What About Titles?

The Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Manchester United rumours have neither been quashed nor confirmed by the player himself.

On one hand, Portuguese publication A Bola report that he is "guaranteed" to arrive at Old Trafford (h/t Manchester Evening News). On the other, his agent Mino Raiola said, per the Sun: 

"

We have not decided anything yet. I think it will be a surprise in the end. Everyone is harping on about only United, United, United.

There are some clubs in England, a few clubs in Europe, clubs outside Europe, but everyone assumes that he must go to Manchester United, but it is not true.

"

The player himself has ruled out a previously mooted return to his former club Malmo, and as BBC Sport reported, the player said "he would reveal his next club once he got 'tired' of reading all the speculation."

And speaking of speculation, if he does end up at United, would the firepower and footballing magic he would bring with him offer any kind of guarantee of silverware?

The short answer to that question is probably a simple "no." United's on-pitch problems over the past three seasons seem unlikely to be resolved by a change of manager and the addition of a 34-year-old striker alone.

The longer answer, though, is that his arrival would help. Ibrahmovic's career has been about nothing if not winning league titles. Since 2001/02, there have only been two seasons in which the side he was playing for did not win their country's league.

Reading that sentence does not quite do justice to the consistency.

For the sake of visual impact, let's list the seasons in which he has won the league: 2001/02, 2003/04, 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09, 2009/10, 2010/11, 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16.

It makes for ridiculous reading.

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

There are caveats. The 2004/05 and 05/06 titles won with Juventus were both revoked following the Calciopoli scandal. And not all league title wins are created equal. In 2015/16, Paris Saint Germain won the league by 31 points—an obscene margin that speaks to a dearth of competition.

In that case, though, Ibrahimovic is involved in both cause and effect. He has benefited from the team around him being of a different calibre to the rest of the division, but equally, having topped the goalscoring charts by a similarly obscene margin, his presence has been instrumental to their dominance.

He scored 38 league goals last season. Alexandre Lacazette came second in those charts with 21. The 17-goal gap between them would have earned joint-fourth place on the scoring charts.

He has been Ligue 1's player of the year and top scorer for three of the past four years. He was the top scorer in Serie A twice, player of the year there three times and foreign footballer of the year three times.

Titles and accolades have followed him from country to country and from league to league.

Moving from Ligue 1 to the Premier League at 34 would challenge that run. Ibrahimovic does not represent the kind of last-piece-of-the-puzzle signing he would need to in order to guarantee titles. But there is a place for him at Old Trafford.

Assuming Jose Mourinho favours his usual 4-2-3-1 system, having the Sweden international leading the line with Anthony Martial coming in from the left and Marcus Rashford coming in from the right seems an intuitively exciting proposition.

Both Martial and Rashford have the kind of improvisational skill set that could keep pace with Ibrahimovic in terms of interplay around—and inside—the box. Ibrahimovic's sheer physical presence would create space and occupy defenders, which could allow Martial and Rashford to thrive.

With Luke Shaw set to return from injury well in time for next season, at least one of the full-back positions would offer a significant attacking threat from out wide.

Of course, at 34, Ibrahimovic is not as mobile as he used to be, and he would be more likely to drop deep and start counter-attacks than keep pace with and finish them. But chance-creation is a big part of his game. He averaged 1.6 key passes per 90 minutes of league football last season, per WhoScored.com. He finished the season with 13 assists on top of his 38 goals. 

And while his age would suggest that his body should be slowing down, his output has not been affected.

While some of that is surely connected to the fact that he is playing in a team that is barely challenged on its way to winning the league, he also scored 11 goals in Sweden's Euro 2016 qualifying campaign and scored against both Chelsea and Manchester City in the Champions League.

And while his reputation is as one of the game's great egotists, he is clearly a team player. Indeed, in February 2015, his former manager Carlo Ancelotti said of him, per Sport Bild (via FourFourTwo): 

"

One time he asked me if I believe in God, so I replied yes, he then asked me, do you think it is me? He loves to joke and that is just the way he is but inside there is a great professional.

He is a winning type, a fighter and a leader within the team. I can think of very few strikers like him who prefers to find a great pass than to score a goal.

"

More recently, in an interview with Sam Wallace of the Telegraph, Ancelotti said: "I think he is not young but still fit. He has a real winning mentality. Maybe Manchester United need this kind of player with experience. They are all young."

And while they are not all young—Wayne Rooney is still around, for example—there is a very young, inexperienced slant to United's forward line. Having Ibrahimovic among them will add experience—and winning experience at that.

Much has been said about Mourinho and Ibrahimovic's relationship. It is best summed up by one sentence from the player's autobiography I am Zlatan Ibrahimovic (h/t MailOnline): "Mourinho would become a guy I was basically willing to die for." 

Given Mourinho has only worked with one of the United squad previously—and it was hardly a happy relationship; he allowed Juan Mata to be sold to the Red Devils when he was managing Chelsea—having an automatic ally in the dressing room could be helpful for the manager.

At 34, Ibrahimovic's arrival would obviously not be about long-term sustainability; rather, it would be about short-term impact. That is not a negative, though, as sometimes short-term impact is what is needed—and there is no better example in recent football history than Robin van Persie's first season at Old Trafford.

However, Van Persie arrived into a team that had lost the league title on goal difference. Ibrahimovic would be arriving at a team who finished fifth. There is no guarantee he would bring titles with him were he to arrive; indeed, given how far off the pace United have looked in the past three seasons, it seems unlikely.

What is for sure, though, is that he would improve the team, be a potential footballing role model for some of the younger strikers and provide tremendous entertainment value. At the moment, those seem more than good enough reasons to bring him to Old Trafford.