There is of course a gaping hole in the Manchester United squad since Zlatan vacated that number 10 shirt mid season.
The club may juggle things to promote someone from within the squad into the role but TFF looks at the main candidates for Manchester United’s new playmaker in chief.
Gareth Bale
He plays at number 11 for Real Madrid and may fancy his hero Ryan Giggs’s shirt – currently worn by Anthony Martial – if he were to move to Old Trafford.
But no one at Manchester United would really care what number he was wearing. Because, based on his match winning performance in The Champions League final, he would be an absolutely sensational asset to the club.
At 28 he’s in the prime of his career and TFF feels that a world-class right winger could be the final piece of the jigsaw for Manchester United.
We believe that he tops the wishlist of most United fans out there.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Most alternatives to Bale would seem less glitzy but not this guy. If he was to leave Real Madrid, United would be one of his more likely destinations and while he doesn’t quite have the explosiveness of old, who is to say he couldn’t play on for another 5 years at Old Trafford. Again though, he would probably stipulate that he gets the number 7 shirt to proliferate his CR7 brand.
Willian
The consistently good quality Brazilian seems to waltz through games effortlessly and, even at 29, he seems in the best shape of his life.
Will score and create for Manchester United and would be a decent alternative to the two big hitters from Madrid.
Marko Arnautovic
TFF has always been a big fan of Arnautovic and he is uncannily similar in style to Zlatan. In fact we believe that he is almost the perfect striker for Jose Mourinho – a big target man with excellent feet and stupendous power. It’s a mystery why he hasn’t risen further in his career and one can only imagine that he has a questionable temperament. At 29 he’s got one big contract left in him.
Marcus Rashford/Anthony Martial
If Manchester United promote from within then the obvious benefactors would be Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial. A re-jig could see Bale take Martial’s number 11 shirt and the Frenchman move down one digit. But uncertainty surrounds his future despite being a popular player among the fans.
Marcus Rashford currently wears the number 19 shirt and will surely be looking for a smaller number and a blockbuster season in 2018/19.
Manchester United fans: who would you like to see in the number 10 shirt next season?