Zlatan pushes for United starting spot against Brighton
24 Nov 2017 5:48 PM GMT
Manchester: Zlatan Ibrahimovic is in contention to make his first Manchester United start in seven months tomorrow after completing his comeback from a career- threatening knee injury.
The striker enjoyed an impressive first season at Old Trafford following his free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain in July 2016, only for it to be cut short by cruciate knee ligament damage sustained in a Europa League quarter-final victory over Anderlecht in April.
Both Ibrahimovic and defender Marcos Rojo, who suffered a similar injury in the same match, have now fully recovered from their injuries and could play a key role as United host Brighton in the Premier League this weekend.
Ibrahimovic has appeared as a substitute in each of United's past two matches, coming on as Newcastle were beaten 4-1 at Old Trafford last Saturday, and again on Wednesday in a 1-0 Champions League defeat by Basel.
Rojo made his comeback by featuring at centre-back against Basel and is likely to be asked to play there again on Saturday as Phil Jones has a thigh injury and fellow defender Eric Bailly is struggling to recover from a knock.
Despite those defensive concerns, Mourinho is close to having a full-strength squad for the first time in months, with Paul Pogba feeling his way back to full fitness following a serious hamstring problem.
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