Manchester United’s hunt for a striker to replace Cristiano Ronaldo in January took a blow this weekend as top target Gonçalo Ramos was taken off the market by his club, Benfica.
United manager Erik ten Hag confirmed yesterday that the club was going to do everything in its power to sign a front man in the forthcoming transfer window, with Antony Martial now the only senior central striker left in the squad.
It has been widely reported that the Red Devils have been scouting Ramos, who scored a hat trick in the World Cup last week when replacing Ronaldo in the starting line up.
With a market value as per transfermarkt.com of just €24 million, prior to the World Cup hat trick it was widely speculated that the 21 year old could move from Lisbon for around €40 million.
However, following his exploits against Switzerland, figures of around €100m started to circulate.
And now, it seems that even that will not be enough as Benfica’s club president Rui Costa has announced his “guarantee” that the club will not sell any key players in January unless forced to do so by their release clause being met.
“We have the sole objective of having a winning season, no player will leave – unless it is due to the clause – which at this moment is fundamental for the squad”, Costa said (via Correio de Manha).
“What I can promise our supporters is what I did at the beginning of the year. This is a sporting project, not a financial one. Fortunately, we are not experiencing financial problems and we have no need to sell players.”
Ramos’ release clause is €120 million, five times his market value and far more than United are likely to be willing to pay.
If indeed the Portugal star is Erik ten Hag’s top target, it will therefore be a case of opting for plan B – whoever that may be – or waiting until the summer to bid on Ramos.
The only other option might be if the player were to agitate for a move as Antony did to force Ajax’s hand in the summer.
An interim solution may also be considered, such as was the case when Odion Ighalo was brought in for six months in 2020/21. But this is far from ideal as Ten Hag looks to build a squad for the medium term future.
