Former Manchester United assistant Mike Phelan is one of the stars of the season so far. He has notably been tasked with the job of keeping Hull City afloat in the Premier League despite all manner of problems that surround the club. Phelan became caretaker boss at the Tigers after Steve Bruce quit the job a manager earlier in the summer. The squad has been left depleted and they were written off almost instantly by bookies as favourites to be relegated. However, having won their first two league games and a League Cup tie, their next task comes against Jose Mourinho’s men.

Jose Mourinho and Manchester United also have a 100% winning record this season, with star man Zlatan Ibrahimovic doing what he does best and scoring goals for fun. However, as the Red Devils prepare for Humerside, Mike Phelan has the task of stopping the great Swede.

Despite his tender age of 34, Ibra has been a total revelation in the Premier League, and still looks to be one of the best strikers in the world. Many United fans will wish he arrived earlier in his career, and Mike Phelan may have just revealed why that assumption isn’t too wide of the mark.

“There has to be moment in a career span like Sir Alex Ferguson had that there were moments when you come across and think about such star players as Zlatan Ibrahimovic,” Phelan told MEN Sport.

“The size of Manchester United means you want to recruit the very best. It demands it. He had to be a target. I am sure he was on the radar many times. But he was at top, top clubs and because of that, even though it was Manchester United, the prospect of him moving to the Premier League was always very slim because he was at the best anyway.”

“He has not been outside of one of the top clubs in the world in his career. When somebody has hold of a talent like that they are not looking to let him go until they are ready. He would have been on the radar but they can be on your radar but you cannot always get them. The best is at the best so it is very difficult to do deals.”

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s persona reminds Phelan of a certain Eric Cantona.

“Every football club wants a catalyst to take it forward. They want somebody different who can galvanise and bring on other talents even further,” he added.

“Zlatan has that sense of presence and confidence to handle all that. He is the right player at the right time at the right club.”

“Eric was the same. He was certainly a catalyst at our time in 1992. Cantona brought expectation and spirit. He had what United fans want to associate themselves with. They all want to see talent and he had it. United fans want to see players who express themselves and Eric was certainly able to do that.”

“It looks like they have another one now. Now they expect him to deliver and so far Ibrahimovic is.”

[Quotes via Manchester Evening News]