Jose Mourinho backs misfiring Romelu Lukaku ahead of facing former club Everton… and rules out Manchester United return for Zlatan Ibrahimovic
- Manchester United face Everton at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday
- Romelu Lukaku will face his former club but is currently out of form for United
- Jose Mourinho has backed the Belgian striker ahead of the crucial clash
- He subsequently ruled out a return to Manchester for Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has ruled out bringing back Zlatan Ibrahimovich to boost his ailing strike force, while insisting that Romelu Lukaku would come good.
Lukaku laboured again during the defeat by Juventus in midweek yet United will be forced to start with him again against his old club Everton on Sunday.
But when asked if he might attempt to bring back Ibrahimovich, Mourinho shook his head and said ‘No.’
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has insisted that Romelu Lukaku would come good
The Belgian striker laboured again in midweek during the defeat by Juventus at Old Trafford
Ibrahimovic, who is with LA Galaxy, seemed to raise the prospect of a move when he appeared on the James Corden Show in the United States and suggested that the Premier League might remain a prospect for him even at the age of 37.
Mourinho today admitted that Lukaku was struggling but said he believed going into every game that the Belgian would turn the corner
The manager said: ‘I always feel, I always feel that every game [that he will come good]. One day will be and one day he will score and one day his confidence levels will be back to normal, which clearly they are not there but I always feel that.’
In backing Lukaku, Mourinho ruled out a return for LA Galaxy striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Mourinho said there were no alternatives for the central attacking berth against Juventus
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Asked if he had considered dropping Lukaku to the bench against Juventus in midweek, Mourinho said there were no alternatives for the central attacking berth.
He said: ‘I don’t think [Michael] Carrick can play as a striker, so against Juventus we wither play with the players that we did or we decide to give a rest to Lukaku [and force ourselves to replace him with play] Rashford, who plays as a winger?
‘We are not in the best moment to try to think about resting players or try to find solutions, the solutions is to find the players we have.’
Mourinho will be unable to call on Alexis Sanchez on Sunday because of what is thought to be adductor muscle injury.
He said: ‘In this moment he’s struggling because he’s injured. He came into the Chelsea match to try to help the team but his physical condition was not good and then he had to stop and was not available for Juventus and is not available for Sunday.’
The manager admitted that United had not seen the best of the Chilean, either, and said that injuries were the problem for a player who neeed to be ‘really, really sharp’ to operate at his best.
Mourinho will not be able to call on Alexis Sanchez due to a problem with his adductor muscle
The forward scored only twice for United after arriving last season and has managed a solitary goal in this campaign.
Mourinho said: ‘He arrived in January. I don’t think that is ever an easy situation for a player. But this season he had a good start, a good pre-season.
‘He started well against Leicester. And then he was injured, then he came back and was injured again and he is the kind of player that needs to be really, really sharp.’
United will not be able to call on Jesse Lingard wither, who is expected back in a week’s time.
Mourinho defended Sanchez’s slow start to life at United, saying he needs to be ‘really sharp’
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