Lets look at some facts here.
As reported in the Athletic, United currently have 24m available in the bank, as a consequence of overpaying for Antony in the summer. It is true that Eric Ten Hag wanted both Gakpo and Antony in the summer, but we had our pants pulled down by Ajax.
Since the season has started, Eric Ten Hag has seen the improvement in Marcus Rashford. Gakpo's best position is drifting in from the left. This is also Rashford's best position. It is also Antony Martial's best position. It is also Garnacho's best position. So we currently have 3 players who like to play on the left of a front 3. In current form, would you drop Rashford for Gakpo??
PSV want 50m for Gakpo. We have 24m left. It was never going to happen in January.
So Liverpool have a free run at Gakpo, and good luck to them. They also have Diaz and Jota that play on the left, so they are in a similar situation, but they do not have a Rashford in form and we do.
We need an out an out number 9. A centre forward who can bag 20+ goals and get us to stay in the top 4 until the end of the season. Unless we can get someone in for 24m, we are looking at a loan deal for a decent-ish striker who is coming to the end of their contract. Who is currently in that category?
Karim Benzema
Memphis Depay
Alvaro Morata
Clubs in financial difficulty, who may need to offload players on loan, like Juventus and Atletico Madrid. Vlahovic and Felix are long shots TBF. In all likelihood, we'll probably get Depay as a back up for Martial getting injured.