It’s fair to say that Manchester United have already missed out on multiple favoured targets, and that is reflected in the current state of the players they are linked to.
From a window that started with a bid for Liam Delap and the signing of Matheus Cunha, Ruben Amorim begins his pre-season with one new player and no sales.
Clearly, the window has not gone according to plan, even if it’s just past the first week of July, because the state of Man Utd’s current transfer targets is worrisome.
One player they’ve been concretely linked to doesn’t have happy memories of Old Trafford, in particular.
Moise Kean of Everton is put under pressure by Harry Maguire of Manchester United during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Everton FC at Old Trafford on December 15, 2019
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Moise Kean’s last experience at Old Trafford
Old Trafford is known as the “Theatre of Dreams” worldwide, but ask Moise Kean, and on the evidence of his previous appearance at the iconic stadium, his answer might be different.
The day was December 15, 2019, and Man Utd were hosting Duncan Ferguson’s Everton at Old Trafford.
The game finished 1-1 that day, with a Victor Lindelof goal cancelled out by Mason Greenwood’s equaliser in the second half.
However, for Moise Kean, it became the game that condemned his Everton spell to remain in forever mediocrity.
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As a big-money signing at the time, Kean was struggling to convince anyway, but that game was the death knell, which started with him on the bench.
Kean came on in the 70th minute, was on the pitch for United’s equaliser, before getting hooked off by Ferguson in the 89th minute.
Ferguson explained his brutal treatment of Kean even more brutally after the game, saying that the then 19-year-old youngster wasn’t up to the pace of the game.
He suffered the ultimate ignominy of getting subbed off after coming on, that too after just 18 minutes.
Kean is a better player now, but not what Man Utd need
It goes without saying that that version of Kean had to go through those things to become the player he is today, earning interest from multiple sides.
United being linked to him is a validation of how he has rediscovered himself after leaving Everton and going back to Italy.
However, Kean being a better player now and Kean being the striker United need are two different things.
For all the talk about his breakout, he has just one good season under his belt, the 2024/25 one, so it remains to be seen whether he can keep it up.
More importantly, numerous players have shown that they are just not suited to a particular league/team, and Kean’s exciting exploits in Italy provide a stark contrast to his time in England.
United can’t go for a player with that many question marks over him, especially for a release clause value north of £40m.
If Kean is the answer, then the question is wrong. United should rather bet on Rasmus Hojlund finding untapped potential than remove a player from a league he feels suited to.