Manchester United are exploring several attacking options for the event that Viktor Gyokeres cannot be signed.
Ineos has not placed all its eggs in one basket this summer, with numerous striker options being considered.
Viktor Gyokeres remains the most likely forward addition for Manchester United, with Sporting CP expected to demand £68m for the Swede. However, United have numerous other names on the list, with interest in Victor Osimhen remaining high.
Other strikers have also been linked, with one in particular standing out as an expensive yet potentially brilliant move for a player compared with NBA legend Kobe Bryant.
The late, great, Bryant is remembered as one of the greatest Basketball players in history and racked up a whopping 33,643 points throughout his career. So, to be mentioned in the same sentence as the legend is a privilege, and one United target has had the honour.
Hugo Ekitike celebrates scoring for Frankfurt with arm in the air.
Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images
Why Hugo Ekitike has been compared with Kobe Bryant
As a basketball player, there are few with as many ‘clutch’ moments in their career as Bryant had.
The long-term LA Laker had a never-say-die attitude on the court, which saw him often making big plays late on and right at the buzzer.
Well, in 2021, GOAL interviewed several figures around United target Hugo Ekitike, and one of the Frenchman’s friends suggested that the Frankfurt striker has this gene.
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“He has the mentality of Kobe Bryant in a 19-year-old’s body,” one of Ekitike’s friends says. “If you tell him he’s only got 10 minutes left in a game, he’s not going to hide, but take it as a challenge.”
Quoted in the same interview, Ekitike himself revealed that his hero within football is France compatriot Kylian Mbappe, whom he aspires to be.
“That’s what it means to be a top-level player, and that’s what I aspire to become.
“Over the last few years, he is the player I watch the most, who inspires me, and not necessarily only on the pitch.”
If Ekitike is able to have both the mentality of Bryant and the footballing ability of Mbappe, he would be a scary prospect. However, is he the player United need?
Manchester United’s pursuit of Hugo Ekitike
Despite interest in Gyokeres remaining high, United are looking at other options, with Ekitike one of these to be under consideration.
It was claimed this week that United have now made contact to sign Ekitike; however, his price tag means that a deal will be far from straightforward for a cautious spending Ineos.
Frankfurt wants €100m to sell Ekitike, which is around £85m, a figure United simply cannot afford this summer with a handful of other positions to strengthen.
To make a deal even less likely, Ekitike doesn’t fulfill Ruben Amorim’s demand for an experienced striker, nor is he the physically dominant number nine that the Portuguese head coach’s system relies on.
It would be a very good signing for the future; however, for £85m, it will surely be a pass from United.