The clamour for Zlatan Ibrahimovic has gathered pace.
Manchester United’s summer signing has risen to second spot in our Watchlist forward rankings off the back of his 13-point return in last night’s 2-0 win over Southampton.
Having doubted Ibrahimovic’s early promise, there have been two notable changes to swing our opinion.
The Swede is now confirmed as United’s spot-kick taker having planted the ball past Fraser Forster for the second goal.
More importantly, Paul Pogba’s impact on United was almost immediate and seemed to transform the whole dynamic of the team.
Ibrahimovic was no longer dropping deep to lend his presence to midfield areas and enjoyed more time in and around the penalty area to feed off a supply from out wide.
The reconnaissance mission on Jose Mourinho’s side is over now that Pogba is in the machine – we’ve seen enough to decide that Ibrahimovic will see plenty of the ball in the right areas, picking up the goals and assists to warrant his price tag.
Indeed, his price is now driving the recruitment drive.
Ibrahimovic has already seen a hike overnight – a further increase prior to Gameweek 3 or soon after would seem likely if both Jamie Vardy and Harry Kane fail to produce today.
More significantly, the Swede will face Hull City away next weekend – if he delivers points again in that encounter his stock will be sky high heading into the international break.
We’ve seen in previous seasons how a strong bandwagon can accelerate during this window of 13 days without a deadline to stall price changes.
Conversely, both Vardy and Kane will likely suffer further drops in this period, unless they can stem the tide with points, either today or in their Gameweek 3 encounters.
Kane, in particular, will endure a significant decline in stock should he blank against Palace and show evidence that he’s dropping back into midfield areas.
