Zlatan Ibrahimovic is back at Manchester United... but will 'Ibra-cadabra' upset Jose Mourinho's magic formula?

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What a guy, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. That was meant to be the end of his career on April 20. Well, the end of his career in the major leagues, anyway. By the time he was fit again, it was thought he would be good only for one last payday. America maybe, or China. They wouldn't see him at Old Trafford again.

Yet there it was in black and white and across all mediums. 'Manchester United is delighted to announce that Zlatan Ibrahimovic will continue his journey with the club and has signed a one-year contract. He will wear the No 10 shirt.'

A short video was released to mark the occasion, plus a portrait of Ibrahimovic looking vaguely Christ-like, arm-wrestling a red devil. 'I am back to finish what I started,' his statement began. He is, and always has been, the man.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's return to Manchester United was confirmed on Thursday afternoon

Ibrahimovic posted this picture on his Twitter account to confirm his return to the club

And that, really, is the complication. One can see why Manchester United would want a striker who scored 28 goals in 46 matches for them last season. One can see why Jose Mourinho would remain loyal to a player who has performed magnificently for him at two clubs.

And one can see why Ibrahimovic would not wish English football's last sight of him to be that early departure against Anderlecht in spring, in a game finally won by his young understudy.

He has collected the league title at every club he has played for, bar one. He will be on a mission to rectify that this season.

Yet to what extent must Manchester United aid or indulge that mission? What if they are doing well? What if the excellent form of the opening two Premier League games continues? What if there is no great need to tamper with a winning formula?

A manager engaging in all competitions — and Mourinho always does — needs a big squad. He also needs a squad that can maintain its level.

If there is a reason Tottenham have not won the league title in either of the last two seasons, it is that outside a small first-team group, the replacements are weak. Vincent Janssen proved no deputy for Harry Kane; Kevin Wimmer was no match for Toby Alderweireld or Jan Vertonghen. To be able to look to the bench, or even to rest Romelu Lukaku when the matches pile up, and see Ibrahimovic there, gives Manchester United a huge advantage over their rivals.

After damaging his knee ligaments against Anderlecht there were fears for his career

Take Chelsea. Alvaro Morata or Michy Batshuayi versus Lukaku or Ibrahimovic or Marcus Rashford or Anthony Martial. The difference in depth is plain.

But that's also the point. Manchester United's forward options are already formidable. Last week, even before the 4-0 win at Swansea, Mourinho was talking of players on the bench who don't deserve to be there, and players who haven't even travelled who do not deserve to be watching at home. Martial has been in superb form as a substitute this season. He is making a case for promotion, and soon.

One of the consolations outside the starting XI is that, at some time, it will be wise to give Lukaku a rest, and that will be Martial's opportunity. He either plays down the middle, or he moves into Rashford's role and Rashford plays centrally. That, then is equally Rashford's break. Centre forward is his favoured position after all. He, too, will be looking forward to the times when he gets his turn.

And then, in comes Ibrahimovic. Not immediately; but in the part of the season when rotation is an increasing factor. Mourinho's statement about his new contract made specific reference to the second half of the campaign. There is talk Ibrahimovic could return from injury before the end of October, but there is no need to rush.

So, on the face of it, the dynamic is very simple. If all goes to plan, Martial deputises for Rashford, Ibrahimovic for Lukaku. Arguably, it is the finest forward line in the Premier League and one of the strongest in Europe. With one fault. When has Ibrahimovic ever been the second thought at his club? Just once.

'It began well, but then Messi started to talk,' Ibrahimovic said of his season at Barcelona. 'He wanted to play in the middle, not on the wing, so I was sacrificed and no longer had the freedom on the pitch I need to succeed.'

And how did this end? 'You bought a Ferrari but you drive it like a Fiat,' Ibrahimovic told Pep Guardiola.

The pair had a row in the dressing room in which Ibrahimovic claims to have thrown a box of training kit at his coach, who he called a spineless coward. A Barcelona director, Carles Vilarrubi, said that Ibrahimovic's agent, Mino Raiola, told him he feared his client would physically assault Guardiola one day.

So not well. And while it is fair to say Ibrahimovic's relationship with Mourinho is very different, no doubt there was a time at Barcelona when he got on swimmingly with Guardiola, too — when he was getting all he wanted. A central role and a team built to serve his needs. It is fair to say Ibrahimovic does not do position B.

Ibrahimovic won the EFL Cup last season as one of two major trophies in his first campaign

His record was sensational last season, but United's next highest Premier League goalscorer was Juan Mata, who got as many as Gary Cahill did for Chelsea from centre half. In two substitute appearances, Martial has already scored half of last season's Premier League total. 

Mourinho believes Ibrahimovic can play in the same team as Lukaku — and some will read much into his squad number being 10 — but little in their careers suggests either man is content as the foil. Manchester United had a selfless 10 in Wayne Rooney, who made a lot of the hard yards so Cristiano Ronaldo could play as he wished.

Ibrahimovic is an inspirational and diligent figure in any team, too, but he is nobody's support act. Lukaku would not expect to be, either, for that fee. And where does this leave Paul Pogba, set free by Nemanja Matic, but suddenly finding traffic through the middle if Ibrahimovic and Lukaku are competing for space?

On paper it looks unstoppable, in reality Ibrahimovic's reintroduction will need all of Mourinho's man management and coaching skills. 'There were a couple of teams reaching out who wanted to have Ibra-cadabra,' Ibrahimovic told ESPN. But this will still need careful handling or — poof — Manchester United's harmony disappears.

Cock-up Cup strikes again

Well, they did it again. Having chosen to hold the draw for the Carabao Cup at 11.15am in Beijing — so 4.15am here — the Football League contrived to then start it 22 minutes late.

This being pretty much the middle of the night back home, no television channel was broadcasting the event, so the handful of lunatics who wanted to keep track had been advised to do so on Twitter. When, by 4.25am, no updates had appeared, many will have lost interest.

Those who stayed around need not have bothered. There are not many great games in the Carabao Cup third round. Most of the big guns are at home and there are no local derbies, unless Bournemouth versus Brighton, on the south coast but 100 miles apart, counts. In fact, the only thing keeping the competition in the news, is how relentlessly abysmal and amateurish the procedures have been this year.

Maybe that's the ploy. Maybe the organisers have found a smart way to draw attention to their competition; or maybe Carabao simply translates as cock-up.

The bizarre decision to host the draw in Beijing came at the request of cup sponsors Carabao

Major American beauty contest suits Beckham 

It has taken the Premier League decades to secure the broadcast deal of their dreams. But Major League Soccer turned down a $4billion television contract this summer despite still being at the expansion stage — a process to increase membership from 22 franchises to 26 is ongoing.

The sticking point? Promotion and relegation. New clubs have to come complete with sponsorships, a proven fan base, a soccer-specific stadium and a joiner's fee of $150million, so unsurprisingly new owners don't want to pay up only to fall out. Part of the attraction of MLS is when you're in, you're in.

Yet what if you can't get in? The $4bn offer, that specified the need for promotion and relegation to generate added excitement, came from Riccardo Silva of MP & Silva, a sports media rights group. Their clients include all the major European football leagues, plus major broadcasters such as Fox Sports and Sky. 

Yet Silva will have had another motive, as the co-owner of Miami FC in the second tier North American Soccer League. Major League Soccer is in the process of awarding a franchise to a club based in Miami, but it isn't his. Miami Beckham United, a team owned by David Beckham's consortium who haven't played a game yet, are the chosen ones, and if successful would leave Silva's Miami FC high and dry with no route to the big league.

We know the appeal to investors, but it cannot be right, this closed shop. FC Cincinnati are another club auditioning for MLS, despite getting crowds of over 20,000 in the United Soccer League, another second-tier competition that draws average gates of roughly 3,500.

For fans in this country the fear of relegation is powerful, but the top to bottom pyramid that puts every investment in jeopardy is also part of what makes English football great. Over here, Miami FC and Miami Beckham United would stand or fall on merit. Over there, it's just one big beauty contest.

David Beckham's Miami franchise has yet to take to the field in Major League Soccer

Four goalkeepers? It is almost as if Gareth Southgate kept naming them, until he could find a way to include Joe Hart. That is his right. He has a group, any three could be involved in the World Cup squad, and it is important to keep them all in the loop. 

Hart has 71 appearances for England, has undoubtedly been the best goalkeeper in the country since winning a regular place after the 2010 World Cup, and it would have been harsh to demote him from first choice to fourth the moment his powers started to wane. An England manager cannot afford to be insensitive. Who knows when he might need Hart next?

Yet sooner or later, a judgement call has to be made, and right now it would be hard to place Hart in England's final 23. Jack Butland has been in excellent form since coming back from injury, so too Jordan Pickford despite the pressure of his £30million move to Everton — and Tom Heaton is consistent and was among the reasons Burnley held on to their lead to win at Chelsea on the opening day of the season. 

Hart, meanwhile, has shipped seven goals in two league games and while that may largely be due to his new team-mates at West Ham, in moments such as Southampton's first goal last Saturday he has looked anything but England's No 1. And not England's two or three, either.

Joe Hart has conceded seven goals in his first two Premier League games for West Ham

Wayne may still return

Wayne Rooney's decision to stand down from international football makes perfect sense. Is he England's No 9? No, that is Harry Kane. Is he the No 10? No, that is Dele Alli. So where is he?

If Gareth Southgate decides to play with wide forwards, a job Rooney once filled impressively at Manchester United, he no longer has the pace. Marcus Rashford, Jamie Vardy, Raheem Sterling, and Adam Lallana when he returns from injury, would all be better suited to that position. And Rooney doesn't have what England require in the deeper, central-midfield roles.

For Everton at Manchester City on Monday, he was perfect, slowing the game down, taking the ferocious pace out of City's play, but England don't want that in most matches.

Wayne Rooney has retired from England duty, but there is a scenario where he could return

They want to take the game at high tempo to lesser opposition, and they need legs to throw a defensive blanket on the better technical teams, such as Spain. Neither way suits Rooney as a midfield player.

So, basically, he's Alli's understudy: the guy to link it all up at 10 if Alli got injured. And that duty does not suit a player who, 32 in October, now needs to be conserving his energy through a long Premier League season. But there is a postscript. 

Were Alli to have the misfortune to be injured close to the World Cup, and Rooney's Everton form had been maintained, he would remain an obvious option for Southgate. In this scenario, one cannot imagine Rooney rejecting the call.

This week's announcement is not evidence of a man who has fallen out of love with England, but one whose international career has been overtaken by circumstances. And circumstances sometimes change.