Let's talk strikers: who do we buy and why?

Katy Cat

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Aug 16, 2023
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I caught a bit of a post before which brought home just how dire our striking situation is (it was on the BBC site now I think about it).

It's not just that we struggle to score. It's that we've struggled for several years and so many other teams are better-equipped than we are. I'm not talking about Salah, Haaland, or Isak, it's just looking at Bournemouth, Brentford, Fulham and even Palace, and thinking. 'sheesh, they have much better options than us'. Honestly, thinking about this stuff and taking in the reality of what's happened is just surreal. Even more when you think of how much we've spent for so little.

More than anything we need to find a couple of players who can score because Zirkzee doesn't look like ever being a 15 goal player (to be fair, he is looking better and can play a bit) and Højlund has gone from a pretty promising debut season to someone who shouldn't be anywhere near a PL team (I still haven't given up completely: he needs a loan opportunity).

But we know there are limited funds, that Gyökeres is highly unlikely (he'll want CL not this mess), Delap will have good options elsewhere (plus complications in the deal city did?) and Sesko is very likely bound for Arsenal (and is unproven at this level..I'm not sure he's currently much more than Højlund was).

So, taking this and some of the other context into account, who do we realistically attempt to buy and why?
 
Hopefully someone with proper experience and a record of scoring goals in top leagues. The last thing we need is another kid with potential where it'll take three seasons to see if they're good enough.
 
Wilson Isidor from Sunderland would be my wildcard pick. A very good finisher
 
I think amorim needs to develop hojlund and at the same time get the team playing better via coaching and signing players in the key positions that we need depth and a different profile. But hojlund is obviously amorims profile, and is a well thought of young player across the world. Any striker that we could sign this summer will struggle until amorims improves the teams performances via coaching.
 
It bothers me that we are ignoring this area. Or signing projects.

Every great United team has had world class strikers. Ferguson always made sure he had them. When city pipped us to the league, he reacted by getting Van Persie (and then won it)

Can’t work out why we’re dancing around Ighalo, Wegshit etc. Just get some world class forwards in and we’ll take a huge leap.

But I’ve said this years and we always end up signing Mount or De Ligt instead for no reason
 
LawCharltonBest said:
It bothers me that we are ignoring this area. Or signing projects.

Every great United team has had world class strikers. Ferguson always made sure he had them. When city pipped us to the league, he reacted by getting Van Persie (and then won it)

Can’t work out why we’re dancing around Ighalo, Wegshit etc. Just get some world class forwards in and we’ll take a huge leap.

But I’ve said this years and we always end up signing Mount or De Ligt instead for no reason
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Yoro too.. experienced striker was surely a bigger priority than a very expensive CB prospect
 
LawCharltonBest said:
It bothers me that we are ignoring this area. Or signing projects.

Every great United team has had world class strikers. Ferguson always made sure he had them. When city pipped us to the league, he reacted by getting Van Persie (and then won it)

Can’t work out why we’re dancing around Ighalo, Wegshit etc. Just get some world class forwards in and we’ll take a huge leap.

But I’ve said this years and we always end up signing Mount or De Ligt instead for no reason
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I'd love us to be signing the best that's out there - it was a major feature of SAF's sides but we did it from a position of dominance. We were comfortably the best side in the PL, with many of the best players, a guarantee of the CL, and buying power. To some extent we could buy who we wanted, or at least have a realistic chance of buying them

We can't do what we once did.
 
If we do go for Gyokeres (or any other player, for that matter) I hope it's because the scouts and data people have identified him as somebody worth acquiring, rather than because the manager has history with him.
 
Hojlund and Zirksee are on 5 league goals between them. If life hands you lemons, you don't have to make lemonade.
 
Top picks would be a Victor (be it Osimhen, Gyokeres or even Boniface), provided that they would come on reasonable terms.
Would also like Jonathan David as one of two striker signings, but that's perhaps a bit greedy. Let's sign one first.

I do believe it's a good market to be after a striker this summer, as there's also the likes of Sesko and Delap that should be "available".
 
Mateta
Not a solution but an improvement and something to build on. Feels like a relatively safe bet and shouldn't be outrageously expensive with a year left on his contract.
I'd rather say isak or a better striker but there aren't many and it seems we cant afford them.
 
Katy Cat said:
I'd love us to be signing the best that's out there - it was a major feature of SAF's sides but we did it from a position of dominance. We were comfortably the best side in the PL, with many of the best players, a guarantee of the CL, and buying power. To some extent we could buy who we wanted, or at least have a realistic chance of buying them

We can't do what we once did.
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We’ve been able to over the years though and it’s clear the lure of United is still huge

Ronaldo, Casemiro, Varane etc joining in recent years, though past their best, shows that United still can attract top names

For some reason though we keep ignoring that area. Lukaku is the last time we bought a forward in his prime. It’s surreal. Then you see the athletic article about who we want this summer.. Liam Delap. Another unproven forward.
 
LawCharltonBest said:
We’ve been able to over the years though and it’s clear the lure of United is still huge

Ronaldo, Casemiro, Varane etc joining in recent years, though past their best, shows that United still can attract top names

For some reason though we keep ignoring that area. Lukaku is the last time we bought a forward in his prime. It’s surreal. Then you see the athletic article about who we want this summer.. Liam Delap. Another unproven forward.
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We’ve also attracted those players by paying huge wages though. That’s not going to happen anymore and we are further away from the top than ever.

Of course loads of players will want to come but players like Gyökeres and Osimhen approaching 27 surely will have serious reservations. Our most likely signing is probably someone like Delap or Sama Agehowa and even they will cost a fortune despite being relatively unproven.
 
I think we will end up signing Liam Delap.

Reasons:
  • Cost cheaper than Osimhen and Gyokeres in both combined wages and transfer fees demands.
  • He already has PL experience and so far doing good with Ipswich.
  • More realistic because Osimhen and Gyokeres might prefer to play for teams that challenging major trophies especially given they are in their prime ages means they don’t want to waste their career playing for a team that still under development at this stage.
 
LawCharltonBest said:
We’ve been able to over the years though and it’s clear the lure of United is still huge

Ronaldo, Casemiro, Varane etc joining in recent years, though past their best, shows that United still can attract top names

For some reason though we keep ignoring that area. Lukaku is the last time we bought a forward in his prime. It’s surreal. Then you see the athletic article about who we want this summer.. Liam Delap. Another unproven forward.
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Do you think INEOS would do what Glazers did by offering players huge wages to sign those top names?

May be if the transfer fees is free and the player can accept short term 1-2 years contract. Other than that reason, I can’t think a reason how INEOS will pay huge fees and ridiculous wages at the same time.
 
Assuming Ipswich get relegated, then Delap is who we will probably go for. We should go for Gyokeres or Osimhen, but seems unlikely. Concern with delap is he's also young and relatively unproven, though he's a very good talent. But still it's a lot of pressure leading the line here. Gyokeres and Osimhen have the pedigree to handle it, younger players are risks.
 
Don't think we can afford to sign anyone. Who are we going to try to loan is probably a better question.

If we suddenly found some money down the back of Old Trafford then I would probably go for Gyokeres.
 
I would buy Cunha as he’s a goal threat from number 10 and considering our budget would go for Jonathan David. Mbeumo is another player that we should be looking at, but sadly we do not play with wingers.

There’s a shortage of world class strikers. But there’s no shortage of wingers and goal scoring number 10s. We should be looking to add as many goal threats to the team as possible. I don’t think signing one striker is going to suddenly turn us into goal machines, when the rest of the players aren’t up to it. We need 2 attackers minimum in the summer.
 
Von Mistelroum said:
Don't think we can afford to sign anyone. Who are we going to try to loan is probably a better question.

If we suddenly found some money down the back of Old Trafford then I would probably go for Gyokeres.
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Coffers will be aided massively if reports of PSG’s 75m euro offer to Marseille is true. 50% sell on clause. Obviously hoping for stronger sources to confirm nearer summer window, but would be a serious windfall just when we need it.
 
I'd actually quite like Osimhen and Delap if we can shift Hojlund, it's clear to me that if Zirkzee has a future here, it's as a 10. I love Delap but just think he probably isn't quite ready to be playing week in week out for United. The problem will be that if your buying Delap, this summer is when you get him.
 
caid said:
Mateta
Not a solution but an improvement and something to build on. Feels like a relatively safe bet and shouldn't be outrageously expensive with a year left on his contract.
I'd rather say isak or a better striker but there aren't many and it seems we cant afford them.
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I wasn't aware of this. I think he's well suited to what Amorim wants from a 9 so if he's affordable then we should go for him
 
Delap makes the most sense to me. David on a free is also very interesting.

Neither are an Isak level 'Sure Thing', but for different reasons they make sense at the level we're likely able to shop at.
 
I like Delap. He's young, tenacious, driven, confident and is generally a technically sound player.
Style wise he's sort of a mix between Rooney and Vardy but he still has a way to go before he reaches either of those two, obviously. But there's something to work there with him.

If we want him, we need to act fast as I feel, alongside Gyokeres and Cunha , he'll be one of the strikers who'll be in demand for the top sides in the league.
 
Assuming Gyokeres is not on the menu and Osimhen has unmatchable wage demands, we may have to settle for either an affordable striker with experience or young upcoming striker (Hojlund paradox)

Costly Experienced:
1. Victor Boniface

Affordable Experienced:
1. El Neysri
2. David

Costly Young
1. Delap
2. Ekitike
3. Samu
 
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Much as I like Delap, he's another young prospect and we need someone ready to go now, older with a presence and authority. Ideally I'd love a Cavani or Ztlatan profile of player whilst we work on developing our younger players, be that Rasmus or Chido Obi. I'm just not aware of anyone that fits the bill right now.
 
I do believe we need somebody who is relatively in their prime and experienced to give as much chance of success as possible. Somebody like Osimhen. I don’t think we can afford anymore projects right now and we need that leadership too.

However, I do like the look of Samu at Porto. He is young and relatively inexperienced, and there’s a lower guarantee of him working out in that sense. But I feel like he’s got all the tools to go on and be a very good CF and I do feel like he’d score goals now too. I’m just not sure we’re in a position to take the risk, but I could see a Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool signing him and him becoming a top CF.
 
No more young upcoming strikers please, need to get proven goal scorers on consistent basis
 
Katy Cat said:
I caught a bit of a post before which brought home just how dire our striking situation is (it was on the BBC site now I think about it).

It's not just that we struggle to score. It's that we've struggled for several years and so many other teams are better-equipped than we are. I'm not talking about Salah, Haaland, or Isak, it's just looking at Bournemouth, Brentford, Fulham and even Palace, and thinking. 'sheesh, they have much better options than us'. Honestly, thinking about this stuff and taking in the reality of what's happened is just surreal. Even more when you think of how much we've spent for so little.

More than anything we need to find a couple of players who can score because Zirkzee doesn't look like ever being a 15 goal player (to be fair, he is looking better and can play a bit) and Højlund has gone from a pretty promising debut season to someone who shouldn't be anywhere near a PL team (I still haven't given up completely: he needs a loan opportunity).

But we know there are limited funds, that Gyökeres is highly unlikely (he'll want CL not this mess), Delap will have good options elsewhere (plus complications in the deal city did?) and Sesko is very likely bound for Arsenal (and is unproven at this level..I'm not sure he's currently much more than Højlund was).

So, taking this and some of the other context into account, who do we realistically attempt to buy and why?
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What makes you say that.

Playing with the coach who gave him his big break, to have Man United on his CV and of course, the money. I think he's the easiest target for us to get, looking at player terms. The price is a different factor.

He would 100% be my number one pick. If not, then Osimhen. This system is begging for a physical and fast striker who can take on players themselves and have a knack for goal scoring.
 
We need two attacking players. One striker and one number 10. I'd love a Gyokeres and Cunha combo. They're both tough and fiery as welll as being talented and a good physical profile.

Realistically though if we spend big in one position, we will probably need a cheaper option in the other.
 
caid said:
Mateta
Not a solution but an improvement and something to build on. Feels like a relatively safe bet and shouldn't be outrageously expensive with a year left on his contract.
I'd rather say isak or a better striker but there aren't many and it seems we cant afford them.
Click to expand...
This
 
The obvious choice should be Osimhen. I know there were reports about high wage demands, but we should enquire if that's true. He's currently at 24 G/A in 24 games (even though it's "only" Galatasaray). He's proven himself in every league he's played so far. I also like Gyokeres but I think Osimhen is slightly less risky. We could also explore possible business deals with Napoli regarding Garnacho, Rashford or Antony (not swap deals but seperate deals).
 
If signing Jonathan David on a free transfer enables us to strengthen other areas properly such as Cunha. Then i would be all over that. I haven't seen him play more than a handful of times but have always been impressed when i have seen him. Good all round striker who looks like he could elevate his game on a larger platform and would be an instant upgrade on the 2 strikers that we currently have.
 
sired44 said:
If signing Jonathan David on a free transfer enables us to strengthen other areas properly such as Cunha. Then i would be all over that. I haven't seen him play more than a handful of times but have always been impressed when i have seen him. Good all round striker who looks like he could elevate his game on a larger platform and would be an instant upgrade on the 2 strikers that we currently have.
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We should definitely take a look since he's free, but as far as I know, he's not a typical no.9 (more of a Zirkzee type). Maybe we could offload both Hojlund and Zirkzee and get two CFs in with one being David. But if we only get him we don't solve the problem that we lack a goalgetter.
 
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