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Manchester United have come a long way in a very short span of time and manager Erik ten Hag deserves a lot of credit for transforming the fortunes of the team.
A six-year wait for silverware was ended this season with the lifting of the Carabao Cup while the team is still fighting to win the two remaining cup competitions — the Europa League and the FA Cup.
But recent results in the Premier League have clearly indicated that this is still pretty much a work in progress and the squad needs further strengthening.
Striker required next season
One area especially which is quite weak is up front with no prolific striker at the club. Marcus Rashford, who has 26 goals to his name, prefers playing from the left rather than an out-and-out striker.
Anthony Martial has missed a whopping 29 games this season while loan signing Wout Weghorst has managed only two goals in 16 appearances.
The club are trying to rectify this ahead of next season with persistent links to the likes of Victor Osimhen of Napoli and Tottenham Hotspur’s record goalscorer Harry Kane.
Osimhen’s dream is to play in the Premier League and the Red Devils’ interest in him is “very serious” but Napoli will ideally hold out for an astronomical fee and will be hoping for a bidding war between the clubs to raise his value even higher.
As for Kane, United’s main headache is with Daniel Levy and they are well aware of the lengths the Tottenham chairman will go to in a bid to make the transfer complicated.
But as Ben Jacobs detailed in his CaughtOffside column, a lot will depend on the takeover talks and only once new owners are finalised, can a budget be agreed upon.
Lots of complications affecting United’s striker search
“Although Manchester United’s recruitment team can plan, and start legwork with players, they also can’t pre-spend money until they know if there is to be an ownership change.
“This is why the Glazers still ideally want the process complete by the end of the season. Uncertainty heading into the summer transfer window won’t be good for business, the stock price or recruitment, whatever happens in the process.”
Because of the uncertainty surrounding the top two targets and with the club embroiled in talks surrounding a full takeover, they are keeping their options open.
That is why they have multiple backup options ready including Juventus’ Dusan Vlahovic, Roma striker Tammy Abraham and Ajax star Mohammed Kudus.
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