Zlatan Ibrahimović has been Manchester United’s saviour this season on numerous occasions. The Swede is the club’s top scorer this campaign and has been crucial in their League Cup win and their progress in the Europa League. Without the veteran, United have looked toothless as the other attackers have not been scoring enough goals for United to be anywhere near the top two League places.
The striker’s future is still in the air as Ibrahimović has not signed an extension yet. He wants to see what the club achieves from now till the end of the season and then decide whether to extend his stay in Manchester. Napoli and the MLS have been circling around the big man and United need to look elsewhere and try to replace the goal-machine. One player who could be a good choice is Premier League’s leading goalscorer Romelu Lukaku. In fact, certain reports even indicate the club are interested in the Belgian’s services.
Manchester United are keen to pay over £60 million for the Premier League top scorer with Lukaku also keen to switch places in the summer. He has rejected the chance to sign a new contract as the Belgian wants to join a bigger club than Everton. But the biggest question of them all is that can the powerful striker replace Zlatan Ibrahimović?
Amidst the rich talent on display in the Premier League, Lukaku has been ruling the charts this season with 24 goals and 6 assists. He is consistently improving with each passing season as his record speaks the same. In the 2014/15 season, Lukaku scored 10 goals while getting on the scoresheet 18 times in the last season.
A steady improvement can be seen in his play as the striker has all the tools to become one of the world’s best. United are linked with some of the best names in the business but none has the experience of playing in the Premier League for four long years and is a proven customer in the league.
Along with that, Lukaku has shown this season that he can play as a strong striker and hold up play when needed and has the pace to run behind the centre-backs and leave them for dead. United have flourished with a striker of Ibrahimović’s ilk and can progress further with a striker entering his peak years and having the same traits as the Swede.
The Red Devils have also been lucky when luring Everton players in the past with Wayne Rooney being the glaring example of that. Lukaku is already the Toffees’ all-time highest Premier League goal scorer and can reach new heights at the Theatre of Dreams under a manager who knows him since his teenage days and can bring out the best in the Belgian. His goalscoring feat and style of play makes Romelu Lukaku a perfect replacement for Zlatan Ibrahimović.
