Unfinished legacy: Zlatan Ibrahimovic running out of time to win Champions League

The limbs are not so supple as once they were. The leaps and flying kicks are not quite so balletic. The burst of acceleration is now more subtle than explosive. Age, slowly, is catching up with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but it has not caught him yet.

This season, Ibrahimovic has 30 goals in 24 league starts, equal with his best ever tally for a season. Even in a Ligue 1 title race as one-sided as a North Korean election, that’s an extraordinary achievement. On Saturday, against Nice, he reminded everybody he is capable of kicking a ball extremely hard indeed.

That may sound flippant, but it shouldn’t. Kicking a ball accurately with great ferocity is far more about technical ability than strength, but it’s the blend of the two that have defined Ibrahimovic. His trademark goal is the kind of leaping volley, preferably some sort of roundhouse kick, that he attributes to his martial arts training.

But at 34, it’s reasonable to start wondering how long he realistically has left. Would he be so prolific anywhere other than Paris Saint-Germain? What will his legacy be? Zlatan, of all players, is surely conscious of the legend he will leave behind.

He has won 13 league titles (albeit two of them later revoked) at six clubs in four countries. Since joining Ajax in 2001 at the age of 19, there have only been two seasons when he did not win the league. That is a stunning record, and ought to be a riposte to those who accuse him of being a flat-track bully. It’s true he’s often played for the best team in a league, but it’s also the case that he’s often been the main reason that team has been the best in the league.

But one thing is missing – and that is a Champions League. There is an oddity in public perception that seems to see greatness as a checklist: ah, he can’t be a true great till he’s won a World Cup; ah, he can’t be a true great till he’s transformed a mid-table side into league champions; ah, he can’t be a great till he’s scored a decisive goal in a final. Greatness comes in many forms; there are no templates. And yet at the same time, it would be an oddity of a player of Ibrahimovic’s stature failed to win a Champions League.

And as age closes in, so opportunities reduce. Ibrahimovic’s contract at PSG is up at the end of the season and he has made clear he has no intention of renewing it. That means that as PSG face Manchester City on Wednesday, Ibrahimovic might be facing his last realistic chance of winning the Champions League.

Where, realistically, is he going to go? The Premier League next season is already beginning to resemble the latter stages of some HBO show, when you wonder whether the scriptwriters might have lost the run of themselves and made everything a little too complicated, introduced too many outrageous characters and subplots.

It’s as though Richard Scudamore, like the founder of some great Victorian museum, has decided to gather together all of football’s biggest personalities and greatest egos in one collection. Pep Guardiola and Antonio Conte will join a cast that already includes Arsene Wenger, Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino. Jose Mourinho may replace Louis van Gaal at Manchester United. So great is the cast that Rafa Benitez and Claudio Ranieri play only supporting roles (although Ranieiri’s performance as an eccentric uncle looks like stealing the show).

Would Ibrahimovic be a welcome addition? Of course he would: there is, in truth, a vacancy for an articulate, opinionated senior player – albeit one whose opinions tend to be variations on the theme of how much greater he is than everybody else.

But while he has been flirting desperately with the Premier League, there are also rumours of offers from China that would earn him £1m a week. Stories last week suggested Ibrahimovic is unhappy with the amount of tax he would have to pay in the UK, with the suggestion being that he would expect to earn in excess of £600,000 a week.

So where could he go? Let’s assume, first of all, that Ibrahimovic would insist upon Champions league football. After his experience coaching Ibrahimovic at Barcelona, it’s safe to assume Guardiola would not want him at Manchester City. Leicester’s success this season has been rooted in careful husbandry and the fostering of a fearsome team spirit. Perhaps they would see Ibrahimovic as a way of boosting their profile but he would be an expensive option who doesn’t fit their rapid breaking style of play. Tottenham? They need cover for Harry Kane, but the energy demanded by their pressing game may not suit him (ditto Liverpool, if we’re looking beyond Champions League qualifiers). Arsenal are in need of additional attacking options, but Wenger has traditionally preferred to work with younger players and, more recently, has eschewed disruptive figures.

Which leaves Manchester United. Their style of football under Van Gaal is sufficiently patient and possession-driven to suit Ibrahimovic, who played at Ajax during Van Gaal’s brief tenure as technical director, and he has already prospered under Mourinho, should the Portuguese arrive at Old Trafford. And United can not only afford Ibrahimovic, thanks to their extraordinary array of commercial tie-ups, but have proved themselves recently more than willing to spend significant sums on superannuated stars.

But United, fifth in the table and a point behind City in fourth, are far from certain of being in the Champions League next season. And even if they are in, there’s been little in the three seasons since Sir Alex Ferguson left to suggest a side ready to mount an assault on the Champions League. Perhaps with fewer injuries and more focused spending, Van Gaal could energise them, perhaps Mourinho could have an instant impact, but it feels a little unlikely.

Ibrahimovic feels too good a fit for the Premier League for him not to arrive next season, and yet plausible berths are limited. But even if he does come, it may be that this season is his last real shot at the Champions League.