Jose Mourinho can’t look back on last year’s festive period with joy, given the way Manchester United’s matches came at him thick and fast.
This time around, though, the manager will probably be able to better weather the icy storm that is the Premier League, approaching the end of the year.
Last week, the club announced a new deal for the miraculously recovered Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swede had suffered an ACL injury during a Europa League match back in April, leading many to believe that his career – at least at United – was finished.
But the player is now almost ready to rejoin the squad. And according to the Telegraph, he will be able to come in and help the team during the busy festive season, during which the Red Devils will have to play four matches in the space of ten days.
Juan Mata, for one, is quite pleased to have Ibrahimovic back, and is impatiently awaiting his return to action.
“It’s great, obviously everyone knows Zlatan, knows what he can give us,” the Spaniard said.
“His personality on and off the pitch, his goals, and he can be a boost for us after this first part of the season, hopefully he can join soon, recover quick and give us a lot of goals in the second part of the league.
“He is very confident about himself, he can give us this confidence he has and on the pitch he’s a big presence for the rivals and when he’s in the box he scores with head, both feet and he’s a great addition.
“The first thing is that he can recover 100 per cent and quick and the second thing is I think he can be very important for us in our objective of fighting for the title.”
what