Matheus Cunha and potentially Bryan Mbeumo are through the door, but Ruben Amorim’s dream target could yet be available in the window, but there’s a catch.
The transfer window at Manchester United has exceeded expectations so far. The club, without European football, has managed to extract two proven Premier League players amid intense competition.
There can be suggestions that Bryan Mbeumo’s capture is more impressive than Matheus Cunha’s, but at the end of the day, both are massive upgrades.
However, the player identified by Ruben Amorim to be the biggest upgrade could yet be available to sign. The catch is that United should steer clear at all costs.
Liga Portugal Betclic Champions Trophy Celebrations with Viktor Gyokeres and Pedro Goncalves
Photo by Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images
Ruben Amorim’s dream target could be available
Adding 35 (Cunha-15, Mbeumo-20) Premier League goals to an ailing team, that too in the Premier League alone, would be highly pleasing for Ruben Amorim.
Both transfers are straight from the Sir Alex Ferguson template of the transfer window, and the risk of them failing to pan out is as low as a transfer can possibly be.
However, there is a glaring hole remaining in the Man Utd squad visible to any fan, and that is at the No. 9 position.
Unless United’s plans for Cunha change, or Mbeumo is seen as a striker (highly unlikely), United still need to buy a striker, where they were rejected by their priority target, Liam Delap, for Chelsea.
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However, Delap was never really Amorim’s target in the first place. He was just a compromise between Amorim and the board, because the Man Utd manager was eyeing a reunion with Europe’s hottest hitman – Viktor Gyokeres.
He could still be available to United, and every fan knows they need a striker. But if there was one striker they shouldn’t go back for, it’s Gyokeres.
Man Utd must steer clear of Viktor Gyokeres
Gyokeres’ links to Man Utd were heating up at the start of the transfer window but since then, the player made clear that he preferred to join Arsenal.
His preference for Champions League football even saw him entertain an offer from Juventus, while Liverpool have been tentatively linked as well.
United were far behind in the race, and Man Utd fans had made peace with it, not wanting a player to join because of any competition, as Amorim stressed.
Since those high expectations of Gyokeres, however, the reality has hit him.
Arsenal moved for Benjamin Sesko, Juventus’ offer wasn’t pleasing enough, he rejected Saudi’s offer, all the while noises kept coming out of his camp that United were not his preference.
Now that he’s burned all bridges with Sporting, he’s looking at a no-man’s land where he can’t return to that club, his top preference has looked elsewhere, and the club he was the dream for have been publicly told he doesn’t fancy them.
Amorim has repeatedly stressed that a player should come to Old Trafford to play for United, not play in some competitions, a condition that should already rule out Gyokeres.
Add to that a public show of rejection, and a transfer circus that has put his agent in focus, and this deal screams long-term instability for United.
He rejected United to follow his “dream”; now, if he comes back to the club, United have to tell him their dream has shifted too.