Jose Mourinho has been handed a huge and unexpected injury boost ahead of Manchester United’s Premier League clash with Newcastle on Saturday afternoon.
The Portuguese coach has been juggling a host of injuries this season, though both Paul Pogba and, incredibly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic are pushing to return for the weekend visit of Newcastle.
Although both, especially the veteran striker, are severely lacking in match sharpness, The Sun reports that Mourinho is ready to name the duo on the bench.
Both have been involved in full first-team training during the international break, getting through the week so far unscathed.
Understandably, United do not want to take any risks with two of their biggest stars, though Mourinho hopes to give them a run out and get them fully up to speed ahead of the busy festive schedule.
In just under a month United take on fierce local rivals – and table-toppers – Manchester City, and the plan is to have both players fit and firing for the title battle.
There had been initial fears that the match against Newcastle would come too soon for Pogba, but his rehabilitation – both in Miami and Carrington – has progressed well.
Ibrahimovic’s potential return, meanwhile, comes far earlier than expected.
When the Swede’s new deal was announced, Mourinho had said the veteran forward would not be back until the start of 2018 after suffering the worst injury of his career back in April.
But since he first went under the knife there have been extensive reports of Ibrahimovic making a superhuman recovery, and that appears to have played out as he prepares to return to the match day squad two months ahead of schedule.
The 35-year-old’s return comes at the perfect time for both Mourinho and fellow forward Romelu Lukaku.
United have struggled for goals recently, with their £75m summer signing going seven games without scoring, and Ibrahimovic will be expected to take some of the goalscoring burden off Lukaku.
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