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Manchester United fans were expecting a feast of transfer activity from their club this summer. On the top of the list, a striker.
With Josh Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund proving as lethal as a pair of water pistols, fans were perplexed and aghast when INEOS did not sign a striker in January. At that stage, there were still slim hopes of going on a good run and climbing up to the European places.
But United were not going to panic buy, they explained, and the side finished 15th in the Premier League.
All would be forgiven, perhaps, if INEOS were to land a quality striker this summer. Ipswich’s Liam Delap was available for £30 million due to a relegation clause, but he chose to go to Chelsea.
Since then, there have been reports linking the Red Devils with a host of top strikers. But crucially, very few of those reports have come from Tier 1 sources. The fact is that United have probably not made one bid for any striker since Delap – if, indeed, they even did so for him.
There have been reports that they need to sell before they can buy, with the likes of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Alejandro Garnacho and Antony potentially capable of raising around £100 million in revenue. But what would be the point watching all the world’s best strikers being snapped up whilst waiting to offload those four? Surely, as Juventus have done with Jonathan David, knowing you’re going to sell them should be enough reason to act now to sign the striker you want, rather than see him go elsewhere?
If that is indeed what INEOS are doing, it smacks of extremely rigid thinking and will likely end up with them buying everyone else’s leftovers.
Others have speculated that by buying Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo and Wolves’ Matheus Cunha, they may dispense with the idea of an out-and-out striker altogether. Zirkzee is not prolific but is sensational in his link-up play. So sandwiched between the two goal-hungry 10’s, the Dutchman could become the assist king.
Both Cunha and Mbeumo can also play up top if needed. So with those options, Hojlund as back up and the teen sensation Chido Obi coming through, who needs to spend big money on a nine?
If that is what United are planning, though, why haven’t they closed the Mbeumo deal? They were, if reports are to be believed, only a couple of million away from Brentford’s valuation. Why not bite the bullet and get the Cameroonian on board?
And so this leads us to the big question: which striker will Manchester United buy this summer, if any?
The runners and riders
Viktor Gyokeres
The writing was on the wall before the end of last season. When United’s head coach Ruben Amorim was asked about Gyokeres in April, he said he did not want a player at his club who valued playing Champions League football higher than playing for Manchester United.
United may have asked to be kept informed on the big Swede, but in reality, Amorim’s personal relationship with the player probably meant they knew months ago he would not come to Old Trafford.
Victor Osimhen
It may be, as has been widely reported, that United would have triggered Osimhen’s release clause at Napoli had the player been willing to reduce his wage demands. Those demands are not as high as some reports are suggested but would still be upwards of £300,000 a week (gross). This is not impossible for INEOS, who recently gave Bruno Fernandes a £300k per week deal.
Given Osimhen’s reported desire to play in the Premier League, it is hard to believe he would turn down the £600,000 per week he was offered by Saudi club Al-Hilal only to refuse to haggle a little to fit into United’s still-generous wage structure. Now it looks like he is about to sign for Galatasaray, not the best salary and not the best league. It’s a compromise move for Victor that would surely have been avoided had United (or any other big Premier League club) really been making a serious effort to sign him.
Again, this all suggests that United were never seriously in for him in the first place.
Jonathan David (now at Juventus)
A free agent (although with a hefty €25 million signing on/agent fee), United could have afforded David but allowed Juventus a free run at him. If money is limited, there seems no obvious reason why United would not have pursued the Canadian, unless they were informed early on that he, too, required Champions League football.
Hugo Ekitike
There was a flurry of reports a month or so ago that INEOS were talking to Eintracht Frankfurt about signing the Frenchman, but the stories fizzled out pretty quickly. The reports were not from Tier 1 reporters, so may not have been true in the first place, or Eintracht’s €100m fee might have simply been way out of United’s league. Whatever the case, this one seems dead in the water.
Moise Kean
More recent reports – again, not Tier 1 – have linked United with the former Everton striker, who has been pulling up trees in Florence. He has a release clause of just £45 million active until Tuesday.
Again, this seems like a deal that’s almost too good to be true, yet with just three days left to act, tumbleweed is blowing around the corridors of Old Trafford. Unless there’s a last-minute surprise, we must conclude that United are not planning to activate Kean’s release clause.
Ollie Watkins
There has been Tier 1 confirmation of United’s interest in the Aston Villa man from The Athletic. But there is little momentum to the reports and it is hard to see why Villa would allow their striker to leave on the cheap, especially to a rival PL club, just because he’s a little unsettled.
This one is possibly the most credible option left on the table right now, but it does not feel right that INEOS would pay £60 million for a player who will turn 30 in December, while turning their back on some of the younger options above, available at a similar price. On the other hand, he is Premier League proven, and his salary demands probably will be lower than those of Osimhen, for example.
Dusan Vlahovic
Juventus are desperate to offload the big Serb but his salary demands are also extremely high – although the transfer fee will be low (potentially as little as £25 million). But is he worth it? His form since the turn of the year has been abject.
A loan for Vlahovic with buy option could be a shrewd move for United but since he only has a year left on his contract at Juve, this looks complicated to organise.
The Also-Rans
Early reports of interest in Jean-Phillppe Mateta also petered out, those for FC Porto’s Samu Aghehowa never really got off the ground and those regarding free agents Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jamie Vardy and Callum Wilson sound like deadline day desperation signings, not to be taken too seriously right now.
Our conclusion: what to expect
Watkins remains the most likely striker to be signed by United this summer. One advantage they have in their pursuit of him is that they have a free run at him and can take their time, as things stand. But you can’t shake the feeling that Villa would be shooting themselves in the foot by agreeing to such a deal, even at £60m.
It is possible that United are stalling over Mbeumo because Brentford have pushed them a little too far, leading them to consider spending more on a striker instead.
We should know a lot more in the next few days. Osimhen will likely complete his move to Galatasaray, Gyokeres to Arsenal and Moise Kean’s clause will expire.
Some sort of loan deal for Dusan Vlahovic can’t be ruled out as Juve desperately try to get his wages off their books. That could even happen alongside deals for Watkins and Mbeumo.
If still available as the window draws to a close, Calvert-Lewin might be given a chance on a pay-to-play type contract, but this would likely be as a backup rather than a first choice striker.
Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty ImagesGyokeres image Gualter Fatia via Getty ImagesOsimhen image Ahmad Mora via Getty ImagesDavid image Carl Recine via Getty ImagesKean image Gabriele Maltinti via Getty ImagesWatkins image Richard Heathcote via Getty ImagesVlahovic image Francois Nel via Getty ImagesSamu image Octavio Passos via Getty Images
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