Jose Mourinho: No Manchester United return for Zlatan Ibrahimovic despite Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez form

AFP/Getty Images

Jose Mourinho has ruled out a January move for Zlatan Ibrahimovic despite revealing his concerns over Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez.

The Manchester United manager had considered a return for Ibrahimovic, who has been in outstanding form to LA Galaxy in MLS.

But he confirmed on Friday that the Swede had now been discounted as a short-term loan option.

Mourinho’s decision comes despite admitting both Lukaku and Sanchez are struggling this season.

Lukaku must get back to basics, says Berbatov.
EPA

Lukaku has gone eight games without a goal for United, with Belgian revealing this week that he is still to click with his teammates after 15 months at the club.

Sanchez, meanwhile, has looked a shadow of the player who terrorised defences at Arsenal since moving to Old Trafford in January.

United's match against Valencia in October was delayed.
Getty Images

The Chilean missed Tuesday’s Champions League defeat to Juventus and is expected to miss the game against Everton on Sunday with an adductor injury picked up on international duty.

Mourinho claimed this week that he would be forced to persist with Lukaku at the point of his attack due to a lack of options.

And asked if Ibrahimovic was a potential solution, he simply replied, “No.”

Getty Images

On Lukaku he added: “I always feel, I always feel that every game (can be the turning point). One day it will be and one day he will score and one day his confidence levels will be back to normal, which clearly they are not there, but I always feel that.

“Against Juventus could I give him a break? I don’t think (Michael) Carrick can play as a striker, so against Juventus do we play with the players that we did or do we decide to give a rest to Lukaku?

“Then if (Marcus) Rashford plays, who plays as a winger?

Getty Images

“We are not in the best moment to try to think about resting players or try to find solutions, the solutions is to play with what we have.”

Sanchez has scored just one goal in an injury disrupted season – and only four times in 26 appearances for United.

Mourinho accepts 29-year-old has failed to replicate his outstanding form at Arsenal.

“In this moment struggling because he’s injured,” he said. “He came to the Chelsea match to try to help the team, but his physical condition was not good.

“He had to stop and was not available for Juventus and we believe not for Everton.

“Now the point is to be physically in his best condition. He arrived in January and I don’t think it is ever easy for a player.

REUTERS

“This season he had a good start, had a good pre-season, started well against Leicester, then injured, then back, then injured again.

“He has struggled with his condition and he is a player who needs to be really sharp to be his best.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in