Jose Mourinho believes Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic CAN play together and their combined firepower could define whether Man United's season is a success

• e-mail

Jose Mourinho was speaking and it sounded like some sort of soap opera storyline was brewing.

'I don't want to make a situation of Zlatan and Romelu because it can be Zlatan and Romelu, it can be just Zlatan, it can be just Romelu, or it can be just no one,' said the Manchester United manager.

Mourinho was making a mental checklist of his options very much aware that successfully resolving the 'Zlatan and Romelu situation' could define the outcome of United's season.

Getting Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to work together in tandem will be key to the success of Manchester United's season

United boss Jose Mourinho is confident the Swede and the Belgian can play in tandem

Lukaku watches on as Ibrahimovic is felled during United's 1-0 win over Brighton on Saturday

He would have sensed the dilemma approaching from the beginning of the season, every time he saw 36-year-old Ibrahimovic working hard in the gym on what was a pretty superhuman recovery from serious knee ligament damage.

And it was made all the tougher by the outstanding start Lukaku, signed from Everton over the summer for £75million, made to life in United red.

Now the Swede has returned to full fitness, Mourinho quickly needs to find a way of accommodating two natural born goalscorers with strong wills, stubborn personalities and winning mentalities.

And even if there is a way of playing them both in the same forward line, Mourinho must then decide which of the team's creative players to sacrifice to make room. There will be no easy choices here but he's not one to shirk the tough decisions.

Yet at a moment in the season when United are starting to look a little toothless going forward despite their many, many possible attacking combinations, Mourinho could find two aces stuffed up his sleeve.

United cannot afford any slip-ups as they trail Man City by eight points in the Premier League

Jose Mourinho issues instructions to Lukaku during Saturday's home win over Brighton

Ibrahimovic came off the bench for the third time in a week against the Seagulls on Saturday

Mourinho is adamant that Lukaku and Ibrahimovic can work successfully in tandem - he said recently: 'It is easy, easy. Good players can play together. It is easy to play together.'

Such confidence suggests we will soon see the big Belgian and the Swedish veteran partnered together, possibly even in Tuesday night's Premier League visit to Watford.

With United eight points behind their rivals Manchester City at the top of the table and therefore unable to afford any slip-ups throughout the treacherous winter schedule, this boost to their firepower could well keep their season on track.

The two players have plenty in common. Both are tall and physically robust. They bully defenders, are commanding in the air and lethal finishers. Both have proud track records of scoring goals at the highest level.

Most managers would love to pair two such strikers of impeccable quality together yet the days of playing two centre forwards seem to have passed in favour of creative threes and flying wing-backs.

Then there is the clash of personalities. Introduced from the bench in each of United's last three games, Ibrahimovic has promptly shunted Lukaku out wide to the right.

Lukaku ended his recent goal drought by scoring in United's 4-1 win over Newcastle United

The £75m summer signing started his United career by scoring 10 goals in nine matches

Lukaku jumps for joy after scoring in United's 3-0 Champions League win over Basle

For the man who self-defines as a 'lion' it was a case of reclaiming control of the pride from the young pretender.

If paired together, the two would probably have to mark out their territory in advance, but there is some room for compromise and Mourinho should work with it.

While Lukaku bustles around the penalty box, Ibrahimovic does like to drop back between the lines in search of the ball to get United moving forward. Don't forget Ibrahimovic also supplied 10 goals with the 28 he scored last season.

And Ibrahimovic has spoken previously about moving into more of a No 10 role to match the shirt number he assumed at the beginning of the season when Lukaku took his No 9.

'To me, No 10 is the star. The one who makes the difference, gets noticed, wins the matches and is the leader,' Ibra said this month. 'And I see myself in that position.'

Of course he does. So Ibrahimovic could play off Lukaku in the No 10 position, potentially with speedsters Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford to his side, or the creative forces of Juan Mata or Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Ibrahimovic scored 28 goals in his debut season with United before suffering his injury

The Swede's excellent form delivered United the EFL Cup, Mourinho's first trophy as manager 

Though renowned as a deadly finisher, Ibrahimovic is also keen to play as a No 10

In a United side struggling to keep pace with the frenetic goalscoring of Pep Guardiola's City, that set-up could help break down a few defensive barriers.

Ibrahimovic, a man who carries pressure effortlessly, will also alleviate the burden on Lukaku of being United's main striker.

After a blistering start of 10 goals in his first nine United appearances, the Belgian has gone off the boil with just the one goal - against Newcastle United - since.

It's possible that he simply needs a rest - Lukaku has started and finished every United Premier League and Champions League match this season.

Including international games, Lukaku has played 1,937 minutes already, considerably higher than any other striker in the top six clubs.

A well wrapped up Ibrahimovic takes part in United training ahead of the Watford match

Lukaku trains with United on Monday ahead of Tuesday night's visit to Vicarage Road

Perhaps this burn-out explained his lack of sharpness in front of goal in Saturday's narrow win over Brighton, not to mention twice kicking out at Gaetan Bong, an incident for which he was lucky to escape a three-game ban.

The two strikers played together can share the burden and offer United so much in attack. If Mourinho feels confident they can play together, it's definitely worth a shot.

A Lukaku-Ibrahimovic strike partnership may well propel United to another level, offering hope that the Premier League title race isn't as done and dusted as it currently looks.