The five areas Manchester United must address this summer – Centre-Forward – Man United News And Transfer News

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As part of a series exploring where Manchester United need to focus their recruitment drive this summer, The Peoples Person will offer five articles across five days, explaining why a particular position must be prioritised, and why a specific player is the ideal target for the role.

An article a day until any worries about the United squad drift away.

With the upcoming transfer window constituting the first major test of the INEOS revolution at Old Trafford, it is imperative the club’s new leadership structure hit the mark this summer with new signings. And with uncertainty over the long-term future of Erik ten Hag likely to continue until the end of the season, any players INEOS identify will have to possess quality and tactical flexibility in equal measure, to account for a potential managerial change.

So too will budgetary restraints be a factor.

As explained in greater detail here, INEOS are expected to be armed with a considerable war-chest for their first transfer window, but five different areas needing five different solutions means the club will need to be mindful with their money. The Peoples Person anticipate a budget in the region of £250 million, helped by sales and expensive contracts coming to an end.

Our previous editions have covered targets at centre-back, left-back, and the right-wing. Today, The Peoples Person focuses on a position of considerable concern for United this year- centre-forward.

The Misfiring Attack

It’s no secret Ten Hag’s side have struggled in front of goal this year.

With only 39 goals scored, United are the lowest scoring team in the top half of the Premier League table. A further five clubs in the bottom half have also outscored the misfiring Reds, including newly-promoted Luton. Despite possessing the joint-fourth best defensive record, United have a goal difference of zero. In a fiercely-contested race for Champions League qualification, this could prove decisive.

Most tellingly, Scott McTominay is the club’s top goal scorer in the league, with seven goals. No other statistic is needed beyond this to explain why United are currently languished in sixth place, seventeen points behind league leaders Arsenal.

Yet, if you were to ask most United fans this season who has been amongst the club’s best performers, the vast majority would include Rasmus Hojlund on their list. So how can the club’s chief goal scorer be playing well, yet the team be unable to score goals?

Well, firstly, Hojlund is a 20-year-old forward with only one year of experience in a major league prior to this season. The transfer fee agreed with Atalanta, which could reach as high as £72 million, reflects his potential as a striker as much as his reality as one at this moment. A slow start to life in the rigours of English football should have been expected for a player so young.

Secondly, a team’s attacking threat is not solely down to their striker; it’s a collective responsibility. United have attacked poorly this season as a team, not just as individuals. A combination of the squad being decimated by injuries and an unworkable system implemented by Ten Hag have led to these poor collective performances.

Nonetheless, individually, players like Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Antony, Mason Mount, and Jadon Sancho have still also severely underperformed. These experienced stars would be expected to help a young player like Hojlund. Instead, they have outsourced the responsibility of carrying United’s attack onto him.

And yet, since Boxing Day, the Dane has shouldered this pressure remarkably well.

Hojlund scored the winner against Aston Villa at Old Trafford and has not looked back. Since this excellently taken goal, Hojlund has scored a further six, while also providing three assists, in the nine games he’s played. United have won seven of these, drawing only one.

In the five games he’s missed through injury, they’ve lost three times, including the abysmal 2-1 losses to Nottingham Forest and Fulham. If United have won both of these games, as would be likely with Hojlund up top, they’d currently be level on points with Spurs.

The effect on the team when the Dane is on the pitch versus the effect when he’s not is stark.

A Capable Deputy 

This disparity in performance is driven by the fact there is not a viable alternative to Hojlund in the squad, given the injury prone Martial is, naturally, injured.

Even when fit, which is rare, the Frenchman is an ineffective deputy to Hojlund, lacking any sense of dynamism or goal threat. Since Ten Hag took the helm at Old Trafford, Martial has missed 39 games through injury. In the games he has played across the last two season, he’s scored 11 times. Hojlund, by comparison, has scored 13 in his first seven months in England.

Furthermore, Martial’s contract will expire at the end of the season, after the club made the long overdue decision to move on from the 28-year-old.

This makes a new striker is essential this summer, to both lighten the burden for goals on Hojlund, but also to free the United team’s dependence on their dynamic Dane. Without this addition, Ten Hag’s side could be destined to repeat their attacking impotence once again next season.

The First Choice Target

Given this role is for a back-up option, United need to target a player who will not cost an arm and leg, nor demand a large wage packet, while also being a guaranteed source of goals, and also be able to support Hojlund, rather than displace him.

Easy right?

Well, given the INEOS Sport team’s experience in football thus far has largely come in France with Ligue 1 side OGC Nice, it actually is.

While strikers like Victor Osimhen and Ivan Toney will be on the move this summer, these are first-choice players who would drain United’s budget, and expect to be undisputed starters. The club should not waste its time chasing them.

Instead, the striker United must pursue this summer is LOSC Lille’s Canadian centre-forward – Jonathan David; a player INEOS are reported to already be considering a move for. Great minds hey?

Possessing a well-rounded skillset, David is a jack-of-all-trades style striker who would fit the bill at United perfectly. He is a willing presser who works hard in both directions; has good link-up play ability; and has only missed three games through injury across the last four seasons. He would function as a suitable compliment to Hojlund, rather than an unhelpful competitor.

The 24-year-old has also been one of the most increasingly consistent goal scorers in Europe across the last four seasons, outside of the continent’s traditional ‘big’ clubs, since signing from Gent in 2020 for a €30 million fee – a record for a Canadian player.

In the 2020/21 season, aged just 20, David scored 13 times and provided 2 assists. The following year – 2021/22 – he scored 19 times. Last year, David finished the 2022/23 season with 26 goals and 4 assists. This year the Canadian has scored 22 times while contributing 7 assists, with two months of the season still to play.

Only Kylian Mbappe has scored more times in Ligue 1 than David this season.

There has been an impressive improvement to David’s returns which suggest he is ready to take the next step at a bigger club. This is made even more likely by the 24-year-old’s contract situation, with only twelve months remaining on his deal come the summer. For a club like Lille, this transfer window will represent the last opportunity to land a reasonable price for their star striker.

United must exploit this favourable contract situation to sign the Canadian international, before another European powerhouse does. Atletico Madrid, as an example, are believed to have made an inquiry for David in January, but were rebuffed. Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have also been mooted as potential destinations for the striker, while Juventus are reportedly an admirer.

Reports suggest a fee of £34 million would be enough to prise the striker from Lille, though United may be able to drive the price even lower if they can convince David to push for a move to Old Trafford.

The Alternative 

Given Lille are a selling club and David has only a year left on his deal, there should not be too much difficulty in landing the 24-year-old if United decide, as they should, to prioritise the signing.

However, if another big club swoops in for the Canadian and prevents United from securing his services, Old Trafford officials should instead target VfB Stuttgart’s Guinean striker – Serhou Guirassy.

The 28-year-old is enjoying a remarkable season in Germany, having scored 22 goals in just 20 Bundesliga games. If not for Harry Kane’s efforts at Bayern Munich, Guirassy would be a shoo-in for the German Golden Boot.

It is a massive jump in goals compared to his previous career best, suggesting is is a potentially anomalous rate Guirassy is unlikely to match again, but United would not need him to do so. Rather, he would just have to provide a strong presence in place of Hojlund. And, at 6’1, with speed and strength in equal measure, the Guinean international would certainly offer that.

However, Guirassy’s most alluring attribute, which further strengthens his viability as a back-up option, is his price-tag. The 28-year-old’s contract with Stuttgart contains a £15 million release clause – an absolute bargain within the context of modern football’s inflated transfer market, and less than half the likely cost of signing David from Lille.

Guirassy makes a lot of sense as a back-up option this summer, even if he is extremely likely to be unable to repeat his goal scoring feats this season again.

Conclusion

Jonathan David is a perfect addition as a rotational forward.

His skillset is suitable to United’s needs; his goal-scoring record is suitable to a team who needs more goal; his contract situation is suitable for club looking to strike a bargain; and his relatively low profile is suitable to supporting Hojlund.

There should be no need for United to look elsewhere as David is entirely suitable.

However, should another club decide they want to target this suitability and United miss out on the Lille striker, then Guirassy, with his cheap release clause and strong physical attributes, is a reasonable alternative.

Neither player will break the United bank, allowing the club to invest the majority of its funds on the final target of The Peoples Person’s transfer wish-list – defensive midfield.

This position will be by far the most difficult to find the correct option in, as there are so few candidates who fit the bill, and that’s why we have saved it for the last day of the series. See you tomorrow.

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