Man Utd return for Zlatan Ibrahimovic to put pressure on Romelu Lukaku - Jose Mourinho

That is the verdict of manager Jose Mourinho who has admitted that the re-signing of the 35-year-old Swede has saved him having to enter the transfer market to bolster what is a thin striking department.

Ibrahimovic’s return to first-team contention – which is expected no earlier than the new year – will allow Mourinho to rotate his squad more effectively as he aims to compete on four fronts in league and cup.

But the United manager claims Ibrahimovic will not merely function as little-used cover and is adamant that the talismanic striker will be given the chance to put the prolific Lukaku under pressure for a first-team place.

“Zlatan Ibrahimovic knows me,” said Mourinho, as he prepared for tonight’s (SAT) visit of Leicester. “And he knows I play the players I think are the best for the team. I always did it.

“I always did that in my life so if he comes here and he proves that he is the best, he plays. If the other ones don’t give him a chance to prove that, that’s life.

“But I try always to be honest with my players and with my team. I try. Maybe sometimes I do not the correct things. But I always try to do.”

Lukaku could hardly have done more to prove his worth since his £90million summer arrival from Everton, scoring three goals in the two United wins that have opened the league season.

And, while the Manchester United manager clearly envisages Ibrahimovic playing a key role over the second part of the season, he is similarly insistent that the experienced forward will have to force his way into what could be a settled squad.

“Zlatan is going to arrive into a made team,” said Mourinho. “Zlatan is going to arrive to a team that, I don’t say is the end product, but he is going to arrive mid-season with the team playing in a certain way and with players having what I call the functional links in the dynamic of the team.

“So nobody should be worried with Zlatan and I think for you it’s just a funny exercise of a football brain to try to anticipate what we are going to be when he comes back. But we are going to be a better squad.

“I give you just one example – if we play Stoke on the weekend and two days later we play against Burton [in the League Cup] and I want to give a rest to my two strikers, who do I play against Burton? I have to play Rashford or Lukaku.

“I don’t have another one to play so I cannot give rest to my players, I cannot do rotation with them like I am going to do with the midfield players or the central defenders or with the wingers.

“So we need a striker and we have one striker just around the corner that belongs to our family, that likes to be with us and play for us. We know well and he is one of the best strikers in the world so the only consequence of it is we are going to have a much better squad.

“Probably in January I would be knocking on Ed Woodward’s door asking for a striker for the second part of the season and I don’t need to. I have one of the best in the world.”