Manchester United might have bought one player already, and are on their way to getting another, but their problem position at striker remains unaddressed.
After seeing Liam Delap reject them for Chelsea, the search has become a bit bizarre, with a new name linked every day and twisting developments following soon after.
Be it Viktor Gyokeres, Hugo Ekitike, Victor Osimhen, or someone else, there are no concrete links to any, which had many Man Utd fans wondering the same thing.
Why couldn’t Man Utd simply fix their problem position for free by stealing a march on their rivals? As it turns out, that free move is reportedly very expensive.
Hakon Arnar Haraldsson of Lille celebrates 5-1 with Jonathan David of Lille
Photo by Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images
Man Utd possibly walked away from Jonathan David
Jonathan David becomes a free agent on July 1 after he declared he was leaving LOSC Lille after a fruitful spell at the club.
The Canadian striker scored for fun in Ligue 1, so the smart money was that a team would quickly snap him up, or there would be a bidding war for his services.
For United, David was the no-brainer option due to their precarious financial situation, and the player was clearly interested as well.
However, United’s links to David have taken a back seat in recent weeks, and Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport might just have reported why.
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The report states that Juventus are locked in discussions with David, but they are being held up by the demands for a commission by his agents.
As per the report, David’s agents are asking for €15m (about £13m) in commission to make the move happen, a figure clearly too high for Juventus, as it presumably would have been for United as well.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, too, as the player will undoubtedly feel entitled to a higher wage if he’s coming on a free transfer.
Consequently, the free transfer doesn’t look so “free” anymore, which is why the noises around Old Trafford for David seem to have gone quiet.
Man Utd’s striker search will become increasingly difficult
If United walked away from David due to these demands, then they can’t be faulted for it because this is exactly the kind of deal they want to put a stop to.
At the same time, Ineos must know that the longer they take to zero in on a striker in the market, the more difficult the market will get.
Not only will the options become fewer, leading to a rise in prices of the available ones, but their desperation to fill that hole in the squad will embolden selling clubs to take further advantage.
That is without even mentioning the sporting cost of moving late, as United’s pre-season training begins on July 7, so the more United delay this signing, the harder it will be for that player to acclimatise himself.
Matheus Cunha and potentially Bryan Mbeumo are brilliant signings, but unless United plan to field them up top in a fluid attack, their job to get the most important signing is becoming immeasurably higher with each passing day.