Manchester United’s pursuit of forward reinforcements is taking them round the houses as priority targets are snapped up by rivals leaving Ruben Amorim’s squad dangerously lightweight.
The search for a new striker in particular is not going to plan, with United beaten to the punch for Liam Delap by Chelsea early in the transfer window.
Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyokeres now looks to be on the cusp of joining Premier League rivals Arsenal, and Napoli hitman Victor Osimhen appears to favour making his loan at Galatasaray permanent.
Further back, a deal for Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo to fill one of the number 10 positions has been dragging on, killing the momentum of the early acquisition of Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers stone dead.
Nkunku interest
Another name routinely linked with a move to Old Trafford is Chelsea attacker Christopher Nkunku, currently in action at the Club World Cup with the Blues but likely to leave in the summer.
The Red Devils reportedly explored a deal to sign the Frenchman in January but ultimately their interest came to nothing.
Nkunku has had a largely underwhelming stint at Stamford Bridge where he has scored 18 goals in 60 games, failing to recapture the potent goalscoring which led to 70 in 172 for RB Leipzig.
And with Chelsea bringing on board a slew of new players, the 27-year-old is now seen as surplus to requirements.
Bundesliga return
According to The Athletic the Blues are “willing to listen to bids” for Nkunku, who was valued at £65m in January, and will “insist on a permanent deal”.
While United “remain keen” on the player they are likely to find stiff competition for his signature from Bayern Munich, who have also been strongly linked before.
The Bundesliga champions are smarting having missed out on major targets such as Florian Wirtz and Nico Williams this summer, and are now looking at Nkunku as a possible reinforcement.
It was reported earlier this month that Bayern were also looking at United winger Marcus Rashford, who has no place at Old Trafford under Amorim.
Featured image Francois Nel 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.
