After the extensive splurge in the summer transfer window, Manchester United were expecting a quiet winter window.
Initially, the plan was to try and recruit a backup right-back after Erik ten Hag cited the issue of Diogo Dalot’s workload with the Portuguese starting in almost every game pre-World Cup.
But since Cristiano Ronaldo‘s acrimonious departure, the goalposts have shifted and all the talk has centered around the Red Devils’ attempts at bringing in an elite goalscorer.
United’s exhausting search for a striker
The chase has been long and exhausting with the media linking United with every name under the Sun.
After the World Cup, those links were ramped up even more with all World Cup heroes being linked with a move to Old Trafford.
Soon it emerged that due to the club being put on sale by the Glazers, loan deals would be the only course of action the club could take in January.
Wout Weghorst position is very clear: he’s love to uoin Manchester United, he also knows Erik ten Hag would like to sign him so he’s 100% keen on the move. 🔴 #MUFC
Nothing done yet, as Man Utd have to speak to Besiktas/Burnley to proceed with conditions of the deal. pic.twitter.com/Xu1CS8zWOL
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 8, 2023
That narrowed down the search a lot with the most extensive reports currently linking Atletico Madrid’s wantaway forward Joao Felix with a move to the Theatre of Dreams.
The Athletic have run the rule over all the targets currently linked with United and have identified Wout Weghorst, Felix and Memphis Depay as the most logical targets as of now.
Despite all the chatter surrounding Bayern Munich’s Eric Maxim Chupo-Moting and Al-Nassr’s Vincent Aboubakar, currently a teammate of Cristiano Ronaldo, no such moves have been planned by the club.
Summer search vs January search
The report also outlined how United were looking for a striker in the summer considering Ronaldo’s uncertain future at the club.
At that point in time, Weghorst was never discussed internally by the club.
Interesting names such as Marko Arnautovic, Alvaro Morata, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Depay and Mauro Icardi among others were on the list of potential targets..
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