Man Utd will offer Joshua Zirkzee plus cash to sign Napoli striker Victor Osimhen instead of pursuing a deal for Viktor Gyokeres, according to reports.
The Red Devils appointed Ruben Amorim as their new manager on November 1 with the Portuguese coach officially taking over his new side on November 11 after completing his duties as Sporting Lisbon boss.
Amorim replaces Erik ten Hag after the Dutchman had a nightmare start to the new season at the helm after INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe put their faith in him over the summer.
Ten Hag was sacked with the Red Devils winning just three of their first nine Premier League matches before interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy added another four points to their tally in his two league fixtures in charge.
Amorim has a big job on his hands to turn around their fortunes with Man Utd currently languishing in 13th place in the Premier League table.
And one of their biggest problems has been in front of goal with only Southampton, Crystal Palace and Everton scoring fewer goals than Man Utd (12) this season.
Speculation has been building of a potential move for Sporting striker Gyokeres but that looks increasingly unlikely in the January transfer window.
And now Ruleta Sport‘s transfer expert Gerardo Fasano insists that Man Utd will offer Zirkzee – who joined from Bologna in the summer for £36.5m – plus cash in exchange for Osimhen.
Osimhen, who was previously called the “best striker in the world” at headers by Carlo Ancelotti, has been on loan at Galatasaray from Napoli during the first half of the season and has contributed eight goals and three assists in nine appearances in all competitions.
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And Fasano has revealed interest from Man Utd: “Manchester United are said to be on the trail of Victor Osimhen. I have been told that the English club, through Mr Amorim, could include the former Bologna striker Zirkzee in the negotiations for Osimhen.
“Amorim has understood that Sporting Lisbon could ask too much for Gyokeres and is testing the waters for Osimhen. Zirkzee might not be the ideal striker for the coach.”
Former Man Utd defender Paul Parker insists Amorim needs to stick to his style of play at Old Trafford and not try and replicate Pep Guardiola’s way.
Parker told SportsBoom.com: “I think the last thing anyone wants is the backing of Pep, you get worried that you’re going to play that intricate football and bore the pants off everyone.
“That guarantee doesn’t work for anyone in my eyes, a lot of football fans are bored of it.
“But I think his style is going to change rapidly. The one thing the Premier League has got is Portuguese players already, that league must have earnt more from Premier League clubs than any other country in the world.
“So many clubs go there to get their players and now they’re spending £10million [compensation] to get their managers.
“It is a different league, though, so it will be really interesting to see how the new manager adapts to the Premier League. It’s just so different.”
Parker added: “We have to remember that Chelsea won the league [in the 2016-17 season] playing that 3-4-3 system, [Antonio] Conte played that system when he was in charge.
“That was the first and last time it’s been done, his team did it throughout that season, which turned out to be really successful.
“They had two decent wing-backs in [Marcus] Alonso and [Victor] Moses, so it’s definitely possible to go out and do it. He [Amorim] might just come in and stick with what he knows.”
“There’s two ways he can go with it, he can either stick with it or not. The question with sticking with it is, have United got the personnel to do it?
“That’s the biggest worry and his system relies very much on ball retention, so can you do that with a [Bruno] Fernandes in the team, especially with the way his discipline is if the game isn’t going the right way. That’s the problem.”
