Manchester United are considering a move for Mainz striker Jonathan Burkardt as they look to bolster their goalscoring options, according to reports.
The 24-year-old is in fine form for the German over-achievers, who are currently third in the Bundesliga behind only Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen.
Burkardt’s potency in front of goal is a major reason for their success, and with 15 league goals so far this season only Harry Kane and Patrik Schick are currently ahead of him in the goalscoring charts.
FootballFanCast relay reports that the German has been added to United’s shortlist ahead of a summer transfer window where they are certain to strengthen at centre-forward given the struggles of Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee.
That list is also thought to include fellow Bundesliga forwards Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko, along with Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyökeres, and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, who is currently on loan at Galatasaray.
Burkardt is identified as a particularly tempting option given his current side’s use of the same 3-4-3 formation which forms the basis of Ruben Amorim’s approach, although for sheer familiarity and immediate impact it’s hard to see the manager looking beyond his former Sporting charge Gyökeres.
However, the Mainz man would certainly come much cheaper with a current value of £21m on Transfermarkt, although he is contracted with the club until 2027 and is also attracting interest from other Premier League sides.
The 24-year-old has never played anywhere else and after rising through the youth ranks at Mainz he established himself as a key man in 2020, with a total of 42 goals in 137 games for the club he now regularly captains.
He is enjoying the finest goalscoring season of his career with 16 goals and 3 assists in 23 games in all competitions so far.
This is already double his tally for all of the last campaign, although he has also played more games given that he was sidelined for a long stretch through injury.
While his figures put United’s current strikers to shame, he is not yet the proven 20-goals-a-season player Amorim doubtless craves.
But as a left-field option, the striker who has been likened to Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak is an intriguing one on whom the Red Devils may choose to gamble as they did with Hojlund two years ago.
Featured image Alex Grimm via Getty Images
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Joe Ponting
Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried.
