Manchester United star Marcus Rashford may change positions for Jose Mourinho

Manchester United starlet Marcus Rashford may be forced out wide to accommodate the arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Old Trafford

Many Manchester United fans have wonder how the arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic might impact some of the club’s young attacking talent like Marcus Rashford. It seems that the answer might be moving Rashford out to the wing to make room for Ibra to play as the club’s central striker.

England fans who saw Rashford’s play as a substitute during Euro 2016 should immediately understand how this change could positively impact things for United. The English starlet was terrific coming on for Roy Hodgson’s squad late in matches. He showed himself to be a sincere threat when deployed out on the left-wing.

Perhaps because of that display, the Manchester Evening News is reporting that new United boss Jose Mourinho reached out to Rashford to make sure he understood that he was a big part of his plans at the club. It’s a safe bet that Rashford’s exploits out on the wing were a contributing factor to that reassuring call.

The challenge of justifying the expense of bringing Ibrahimovic has always been how it might negatively impact Rashford. The youngster showed the ability to shoulder a heavy load at striker last season for Louis van Gaal, and bringing in a player of Ibra’s quality undoubtedly will cut into his playing time as a central forward.

That is clearly a cost that United were aware of, but decided was worth paying to get an accomplished pro like Ibrahimovic. The revelation that Rashford can play on the wing, in the same starting 11 as Ibra, is a huge boost for the club.

It’s possible that United could deploy a front three of Ibrahimovic, Rashford and Martial at times next season. That would give Mourinho’s club a dynamic attacking trio that should score enough goals to satisfy the club’s fan base that is obsessed with attacking football.

Of course, Mourinho could also stick with his favored 4-2-3-1 and play Ibrahimovic up top, and Rashford and Martial as the wingers. That would allow someone like Wayne Rooney to occupy the number ten role and use his passing ability to unlock the team’s attack.

Using that many attacking players would put more pressure on what was a soft United defense last season, but Mourinho’s specialty is fixing that sort of problem. It’s unimaginable that “The Special One” won’t bring in the right kind of personnel to plug holes in the club’s defense next season. In particular, he’ll look to address the issue of the club’s hapless defensive midfielders with big-money acquisitions.

Playing out wide won’t allow Marcus Rashford to develop as well as he would if he were getting regular starts at centre forward, but it’s better than having him strictly split time with Zlatan Ibrahimovic. In the midst of England’s failure at Euro 2016, Jose Mourinho may have found a solution for one of his biggest potential problems at Old Trafford.

• Published on 06/28/2016 at 2:48 PM EST
• Last updated on 06/28/2016 at 2:49 PM EST