Manchester United’s big summer squad overhaul is yet to kick into gear, despite the window having been open for well over a month.
Matheus Cunha was quickly drafted in from Wolverhampton Wanderers to inject some bite and creativity into Ruben Amorim’s attack, but so far he is the only senior recruit.
A deal for another powerful number 10 in Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo has been dragging on since early June, while United are yet to go in hard for a new striker after being snubbed by Liam Delap who opted for Chelsea instead.
Options reducing
Other potential centre-forward reinforcements are also edging away from the Red Devils, with Viktor Gyokeres looking set to swap Sporting CP for Arsenal and Victor Osimhen close to Galatasaray.
Neither saga has officially come to an end, but at this point it would shake the footballing world if either player ended up at Old Trafford.
Attention therefore turns to other targets, and United have reportedly “made contact” for an exciting alternative in the form of Eintracht Frankfurt’s young forward Hugo Ekitike.
Race for Ekitike
Since Newcastle United stepped up their interest in the Frenchman yesterday, it’s no surprise to see reports arising today that the Red Devils are set to challenge them for the player.
Caught Offside duly oblige, claiming United have “made contact” with Ekitike and his representatives to explore a deal.
It would certainly be a tough one to make; Newcastle’s interest is long-standing, as the club see him as an ideal forward to play alongside Alexander Isak, and Liverpool are also in the mix as they look to upgrade from Darwin Nunez.
As per the report Frankfurt have set an asking price of €100m, which would seem far out of United’s budget and therefore makes a deal for the 23-year-old unlikely.
Two birds with one stone
However, the Red Devils “are considering a player plus cash offer to speed up the transfer” which could solve more than one issue at once.
Although Caught Offside don’t specify which player could be offered to the German side there is no shortage of contenders.
Five players – Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Antony, Alejandro Garnacho and Tyrell Malacia – are looking for a way out from Old Trafford.
Sancho seems close to a move to Juventus, but the rest of the attackers could all feasibly be contenders to facilitate a deal for Ekitike.
However unlikely it may be, any such deal would kill two birds with one stone given United’s urgent need for a new striker and their difficulty shifting their wantaway stars.
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.
