Manchester United have been warned against risking Zlatan Ibrahimovic prior to his recovery period. The former Sweden international is still recuperating from a serious knee injury for which he underwent a surgery back in May.
Initial reports suggested that the veteran could return for the Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur in late October, but Jose Mourinho has repeatedly stressed that his striker won’t be available until the turn of the year.
Surgeon Freddie Fu, who was in-charge of Ibrahimovic’s knee operation, has now said that the 35-year-old will have to be patient over his comeback as misjudging the situation could result in bad consequences.
“I have no worry about his injury as it always takes time to fully recover,” he told the South China Morning Post. “In fact the EPL has just started and I am sure Manchester United would not need the player urgently for any crucial game either in the league or European competitions.
“He is very strong but soccer is still a combative sport. As a doctor, of course I want to see him return as slow as possible, only when he is fully fit for the game. There have been many cases of a player returning prematurely with bad consequences.”
Manchester United have been pretty much flawless in the first two months of the campaign with the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial all among the goals.
As a result, Ibrahimovic does not need to make an early comeback but his availability in the second half of the season could provide the added depth in the striking department for the Cup competitions, in particular.
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