The message was short and simple from Zlatan Ibrahimovic as he announced his imminent arrival at Old Trafford, but the details and consequences are still to be discovered. The 34-year-old becomes a United player late in his career but no less perfect for the role Jose Mourinho needs to fill in the season ahead.
Under Louis van Gaal last term, United was largely toothless in attack. Wayne Rooney, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford all had various spells of success as the main striker but none of it was ever sustained enough to suggest that any of the trio could play 40 games and score 25 or more goals in a Mourinho line-up.
Zlatan’s arrival speaks to the need for a winner, it speaks to the desire Mourinho has for making a real statement, and it also says much about Rooney’s slipping crown.
In 2015-16, it was Rooney who was the focal point. Van Gaal spoke regularly about the elevated position the England captain had in his squad.
"I have not bought a striker because of Rooney and Martial, because they could play in the striker position, and because Rooney is the captain he shall always play," the Dutchman told reporters in one of his many addresses on the subject. In every one, he made it clear that Rooney was as close as possible to undroppable.
But that will not be the case under Mourinho, and definitely not now Zlatan is on the way. Rooney has spent the last two months since his return from a knee injury playing as a midfielder for both club and country. While he has shone at times, his failures in the role have been stark.
The latest of those came in England’s ignominious Euro 2016 exit at the hands of Iceland on Monday night. The symbolism involved in United snapping up a figurehead striker such as Ibrahimovic within three days of its skipper’s latest low says much about the potential for a quick decline in Rooney’s force between now and the end of his career.
Judging by his overall form in midfield so far, Mourinho will still need a great deal of convincing that Rooney has what it takes to pull his weight in the engine room for 40 to 50 games a season. And given that much of his redeployment came as a result of his inconsistencies in the forward line, there are further reasons for the England captain to worry about his place in the United side.
But as Mourinho usually looks to a 4-2-3-1 as his formation of choice, there is still a window of opportunity for the 30-year-old. If he can show that he can work with Ibrahimovic as a No.10, then there is reason for belief still. While Ibra’s quality as a No.9 cannot be doubted, and as such whatever hope Rooney harbored of being United’s star forward again has gone, there is still at least one spot he can fight for.
However, the leash is unlikely to be anywhere near as long as the one that Van Gaal held, with the Portuguese keen to bring immediate success to Old Trafford following United’s three lean years in the Premier League race. Whichever area of the pitch he decides to call home, Rooney needs to raise his game to earn a prolonged role in the United first team, and Zlatan is a very loud reminder of exactly that. Aside from a spell of seven goals in seven games at the beginning of the calendar year, Rooney’s impact last season was negligible.
He will not be allowed to get away with such ineffectiveness again under his new boss. And if he didn’t know that before Zlatan announced his arrival in Manchester, he certainly knows it now.
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