If we lose Martial who should we buy as a backup striker?

Zlatattack

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It looks like we're seriously trying to sell Martial, if he goes we only have Hojlund as a striker - Rashford can play there but wants to play on the left.

If Martial goes, who should we get as a backup striker? I don't think Kane is happening, not this year anyway.
 
Fully depends on how much we have to spend.

The best option I've been able to come up with assuming we are working with an extremely limited budget would be Choupo-Moting for a season.

Assuming Bayern are willing to let him go now they have Kane I would imagine it would be less than £10m.

Really good season last year, fits the profile well. Used to playing back up at big clubs. 18 goals last season, 4 in 7 in the Champions League and in the top ten in Europe for goals to minutes ratio.

If we have proper money to spend then I'd need to hear some of the options as it seems sparce.
 
I wouldn't use the term "lose" but rather, if we manage to get rid. Anyhow, I think we'd be likely to look at someone fairly decent in the 29-32 age range who can do all the physical aspects of a genuine #9 but won't be on major wages. Taremi type - but likely cheaper.
 
Why wasn't Martial offloaded earlier seems a bit odd if he's sold now and left even more light on forward options.

I presume another striker will be signed before the transfer window closes.
 
I think if we sell Martial it must be with a view to purchasing a cheap option.

As little as Martial played, he still did play some football and scored a few goals. In an ideal world he probably would have played more too - so it stands to reason that an option we purchase would also get plenty of gametime.

For me Sancho does not cut it. There is no way in hell I would rely on that. It's a nice little idea, fine - but it is not game tested and I think he'll get lost within competitive fixtures.

Get someone in on loan or for a small fee. I wouldn't divert loads of funds to it because I think we will want to replace Maguire and get in a midfielder, but there must be someone better than fecking Weghorst we can use.
 
Doesn’t make a difference
 
Bastian said:
Absolutely not. No way ETH is banking on him as a striker to play 30-40 matches.
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Rashford will be the main CF either way.

Hojlund will be the first sub or tactical option against particular opponents.

Sancho will take the minutes Martial would have had in between injuries. Garnacho/Amad will take the minutes that Rashford/Sancho would have had as wingers.
 
pcaming said:
It definitely won't be that, unless we have no ambition. We need goal threat.
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When deploying a false 9 (Messi aside) the idea is for the goal threat to come from the inside forwards. ETH used Tadic in a similar way at Ajax.
 
I just remembered Mason Greenwood still exists. Maybe his future will be linked with Martials?

Ivan Toney might be a decent option too.
 
If only we could be so lucky. Between Garnacho, Sancho, Rashford, Antony, and Rasmus, we will be okay. I mean, we have to be okay anyway because Martial will never be available.
 
peridigm said:
If only we could be so lucky. Between Garnacho, Sancho, Rashford, Antony, and Rasmus, we will be okay. I mean, we have to be okay anyway because Martial will never be available.
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Plus Amad and/or Pellestri (loans permitting).
 
Devil You Know said:
Rashford will be the main CF either way.

Hojlund will be the first sub or tactical option against particular opponents.

Sancho will take the minutes Martial would have had in between injuries. Garnacho/Amad will take the minutes that Rashford/Sancho would have had as wingers.
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I think Sancho's pre-season games as a false nine were about as indicative as Mejbri's last season. I cannot see ETH gambling in games by playing mercurial Sancho in a position he has never played. If reports are to be believed we'd be willing to shift him in the next couple of weeks if possible.
 
No.

CF: Hojlund, Rashford, Sancho, MG
LW: Rashford, Garnacho, Sancho
RW: Antony, Sancho, Diallo, MG

That's 8 player for forward 3.
 
always_hoping said:
Why wasn't Martial offloaded earlier seems a bit odd if he's sold now and left even more light on forward options.

I presume another striker will be signed before the transfer window closes.
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Because you can't force someone to make a bid.
 
Probably more means MG's return has been given the green light than we need a new player
 
tomaldinho1 said:
Probably more means MG's return has been given the green light than we need a new player
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would make some sense in a way. Not sure if hes been training anywhere or what his conditioning looks like right now. Gonna be a while regardless before he prob hits any sort of top form.
 
Devil You Know said:
Rashford will be the main CF either way.

Hojlund will be the first sub or tactical option against particular opponents.

Sancho will take the minutes Martial would have had in between injuries. Garnacho/Amad will take the minutes that Rashford/Sancho would have had as wingers.
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We haven't spent over 60 m on Hojlund to make him sub here or use him as tactical option , Rashford would start the season as CF but once Hojlund gets upto speed He would play Up top and Rashford would primarily play as Left forward .
 
Red_toad said:
Only currently fit striker we have. So regardless of what you hope for....
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Yes I imagine he will start there on Monday. I hope that Rasmus and a backup share the duties with Rashford on the left for the season.

I love Rashford but he is not good as a lone striker.
 
I genuinely think this is nothing more than wishful thinking. I cannot imagine anyone paying more than a nominal fee and even then they would not give him a fraction of the 250K a week he is on here so I think we are stuck with his final year.

To play the game though I would say we would be essentially back in Wout mode, looking for a cheap loan or short term contract and someone to fill in just for the current season. Maybe someone with a different sort of profile, a target man for if we are chasing games and with that in mind I would suggest we kick the tires on Antonio at West Ham. He has not been terribly happy of late and they don't seem inclined to extend his deal, he could probably be got for a fairly low price and he is definitely a handful. Otherwise, in the mold of big units like Wout but someone who actually is good in the air and can hold up the ball we could do worse than Kieffer Moore who is available on a loan right now.
 
Martial won't be going anywhere any time soon.
 
I think it’s Sancho this season and consider me in the, apparent, minority in being happy about that. I actually think he’ll eventually thrive there when he gets settled. He was one of our best in the box finishers last year, he just struggled on the wing.
 
Hoijlund is already the break up striker. I believe Greenwood will be coming back. Then it will be a rotation of the likes of Rashford, Sancho etc with Hughill.
 
The only way we 'lose' Martial, is through injury once again.. no one wants him. We will find it very hard to shift him on and actually get money for it.

Is there no decent youth strikers we could give a chance to? Hugill/ McNeill. Id love to see that rather than chance some lad coming from abroad and struggling. Id give that a go, and maybe line up Toney for Jan.

and no, im not even factoring in Greenwood into the question. Personally dont want him anywhere near the team again. United as a club do everything they can to avoid bad press, I dont think they would be stupid enough to light that fire.
 
There's no chance of us "losing" Martial. If we find a buyer, great, but the reality is that we're stuck with a player whose only career/life goals left are collecting paychecks and sorting out what's been a pretty messy personal situation since almost the very first day he moved to Manchester.
 
Bastian said:
I think Sancho's pre-season games as a false nine were about as indicative as Mejbri's last season. I cannot see ETH gambling in games by playing mercurial Sancho in a position he has never played. If reports are to be believed we'd be willing to shift him in the next couple of weeks if possible.
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Completely disagree. It's not even gambling, it makes logical sense for him to play through the middle and he'll do it a good bit this season.
 
Zlatattack said:
It looks like we're seriously trying to sell Martial, if he goes we only have Hojlund as a striker - Rashford can play there but wants to play on the left.

If Martial goes, who should we get as a backup striker? I don't think Kane is happening, not this year anyway.
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He’s going nowhere , no club has even been linked with him .
Close thread
 
Gandalf said:
I genuinely think this is nothing more than wishful thinking. I cannot imagine anyone paying more than a nominal fee and even then they would not give him a fraction of the 250K a week he is on here so I think we are stuck with his final year.

To play the game though I would say we would be essentially back in Wout mode, looking for a cheap loan or short term contract and someone to fill in just for the current season. Maybe someone with a different sort of profile, a target man for if we are chasing games and with that in mind I would suggest we kick the tires on Antonio at West Ham. He has not been terribly happy of late and they don't seem inclined to extend his deal, he could probably be got for a fairly low price and he is definitely a handful. Otherwise, in the mold of big units like Wout but someone who actually is good in the air and can hold up the ball we could do worse than Kieffer Moore who is available on a loan right now.
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Surely you’re on a wind up with those suggestions :lol:
 
TrustInJanuzaj said:
Surely you’re on a wind up with those suggestions :lol:
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The thread specifically states backup striker to replace Martial. Considering the best we could hope for if we sold him is maybe 5M at a push you are shopping in the bargain basement. Honestly I wouldn't think it is even worth doing and we should just let him run down his contract and hope he is fit enough to provide some depth and plays hard because he is looking for a new contract from someone. On the basis that we did let him go though I was looking at the bottom of the barrel and players who would at least offer more than Weghorst did for a similar fee.
 
Moussa Dembele on a free, if budget is limited. Alternatively I'd love us to pick up a promising youngster on the cheap somewhere, ala Alvarez / Chicharito.

Someone the likes of Brighton or Porto would usually pick up on the cheap. Who that could be I have no idea, mere mortal as I am.
 
LW: Rashford, Garnacho
CF: Hojlund, Greenwood
RW: Antony, Sancho, Pellistri

Would it really be necessary? Unless it's a name big enough to reconfigure the entire squad.
 
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