Jose Mourinho has taken measures to reduce the risk of Zlatan Ibrahimovic burning himself out before the season’s end.
The Swedish superstar has really hit the ground running in the English top flight, racking up three goals in as many league games in his debut season for the Red Devils. However, at 34, Mourinho knows that there’s only so many more miles that can be added to the striker’s odometer.
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Having retired from representing Sweden following their Euro 2016 exit, Zlatan won’t be involved in international duty this week or indeed, ever again. However, Mourinho has gone one step further to ensure that he gets to make the most of international breaks.
Mourinho explained following the Red Devils’ 11th hour victory over Hull City at the weekend that Zlatan will receive some extra time off this time around because of the amount of amount of playing time he has been getting in the early stage of the season.
“At 34-years-old, you need to rest. You cannot play 70 matches a season. So I give the other guys, who are not selected for the national teams, two days – and I give four days to Zlatan. I give holidays a la carte. It depends on the situation. And he is playing every match, every minute. So four matches, he played 360 minutes – four days off for the big guy.”
With the Manchester derby just around the corner, Mourinho will be hoping this measure sees the fittest Zlatan possible show up to welcome their city rivals to Old Trafford on September 10th.
