Zlatan Ibrahimović is not the strongest pickup this week, which is a strange thing to write. But, because he is Zlatan, he deserves nothing less than his own stand-alone article, so here it is.

Renato Sanches, Grzegorz Krychowiak, rumours of Thomas Lemar… spare a thought for Zlatan!

The re-signed Manchester United forward is not expected to feature until after the New Year and is no longer a guaranteed starter, but there may not be another player in the world, ever, with his aura.

He is truly one-of-a kind. There can only ever be just one Zlatan, and Jose Mourinho will be at his most smug knowing that The Zlatan chose to return when he could have gone anywhere.

But how will Mourinho use Zlatan? At the age of 35 and coming off a torn ACL, he will not be the same first-choice centre-forward of yore, superhuman though that he is.

Perhaps he is being brought back to offer magic on the biggest stages: something Zlatan has always had a knack for.

Real-life Red Devil fans will be interested in how Zlatan acquits himself in the Champions League, but us Draft Fantasy managers will hope he gets opportunities to do something special against EPL rivals.

Starts in the Premier League? Possibly. Impact sub? Most likely. Current quotes from Mourinho say Zlatan will be their ‘extra man,” which could still be a valuable role since United have scored late and with subs in all three matches this season.

So, how will this affect the other attackers at Manchester United? Romelu Lukaku was, on average, the first player picked in Draft Fantasy this year.

Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial each have two goals and an assist and are off to fast starts – expect neither to be available except in the smallest of leagues.

Mourinho will have to balance playing time, game flow, and egos to keep the team firing on all cylinders.

Zlatan must not have the same playing time expectations this season as last, but you can also be assured that he didn’t come back just for the paycheck and to lead in the locker room.

It’s an embarrassment of riches at the moment, and a puzzle that seems to put everyone at risk.

What then, does the Draft Fantasy manager do with Zlatan on Tuesday morning when he comes off waivers?

The reports are fairly definitive that Zlatan will build up fitness and won’t play until January, which means it will be halfway through the season before the former Sweden international plays.

That is 14 or so additional gameweeks to wait on Zlatan if you pick him up now – a very long time to wait for someone who was brought in as an “extra.”

Returning earlier would be a marginal value increase, and the real prize would be if Rashford or Lukaku have to miss significant time from about November on.

At this point, Draft Managers should start thinking about how long they might be able to wait on Zlatan before it is worthwhile to add him.

If you can work it out bide your time, and not to drop too promising a player to claim him, Zlatan, despite everything working against him, is still worth at least a healthy handful of Premier League goals when winter comes.