United want a new No.9
United want a new No.9
"How many strikers are there?" protested a senior figure at Manchester United. That was in May.
United saw this coming as far back as last season. They were wary that several clubs were interested in Liam Delap and that he could be swayed by Champions League football. He was.
Viktor Gyokeres went viral in that competition with four goals against Manchester City and was always likely to stay in it. He will with Arsenal, and suddenly the number of out-and-out attainable stellar strikers is scant.
Another, Victor Osimhen, is pricing himself out of a move to an elite league. If Alexander Isak goes, it will not be to United. Harry Kane isn't going anywhere. Erling Haaland is the (blue) moon to United.
Haaland and Kane are cause for great regret. United missed out on the former in December 2019 and did not have the nerve to go for the latter two years ago. Since Haaland moved to Borussia Dortmund, the only reputable strikers United have bought were Edinson Cavani and Cristiano Ronaldo, aged 33 and 36 at the time of their arrivals. Each only cut it for one season.
Now United are at risk of settling for potential when they require a proven commodity. Hugo Ekitike, of Eintracht Frankfurt, is hardly a spring chicken - he is older than Rasmus Hojlund - but not the ideal profile and seemingly bound for Newcastle United anyway.
United have still not concluded a deal for the Premier League's joint-fourth highest scorer last season, Bryan Mbeumo. Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha claimed 35 league goals between them last season but woe betide United if they rewrite the script and attempt to rebrand either of them as a specialist striker.
Perhaps it should be a task for anyone who applies for the new director of communications role United have advertised for. "Cunha has experience of playing up front, Mbeumo regularly played there for Brentford and their goalscoring records last season speak volumes.
"We invested in a long-term project with Rasmus and continue to back him - there have been glimpses of his class. And Josh has become a fan favourite." You can imagine hearing a pundit utter that on MUTV.
United can't pull the wool over sensible supporters' eyes. The Delap approach is concrete proof they want a recognisable No.9. United aimed to come out of the blocks with two deals - Cunha and Delap - before their post-season tour had concluded.
Delap has remained in blue
Club sources stressed shortly after Delap chose Chelsea that they had contingency targets. That was six weeks ago. United host Arsenal in their opening fixture in 34 days.
Ruben Amorim will crouch down on his haunches in the technical area and see Gyokeres hovering around the centre circle at kick-off. But a cannon will be stitched to his shirt, rather than a devil.
Gyokeres would have been preferable to Delap yet there was a bright red flag: a manager reuniting with a player who conquered a league that is teeming with fodder.
There are not many strikers who fit the bill.
HE-SAID-SHE-SAID
Some of Marcus Rashford’s acolytes were keen to stress last week that he had not asked to leave United. He did not have to.
Rashford and Garnacho trained together at Carrington last week
Rashford said he was "ready for a new challenge" back in December. Rashford said last month he would like to play for Barcelona. No clarification was required.
We can do without the he-said-she-said nonsense regarding a player’s future. United do not miss treading on eggshells around Rashford and Amorim acted decisively after Rashford blanked him in Plzen on December 12.
He is a player without a number now that Cunha has the '10'. United are still remaining diplomatic with Rashford and have emphasised his 20-year history with the club. That privilege has not been extended to Alejandro Garnacho.
Rashford jeopardised the harmony of the United squad too often: the brazen birthday party on Deansgate, the Belfast bender and the Plzen flashpoint. Ahead of a new season, United must have a happy camp.
Rashford's United career effectively ended when he was substituted away at Vktoria Plzen
Rashford arrived for an individual training session at Carrington eight minutes after Amorim on Friday via the rear entrance. Amorim left through the front.
Jadon Sancho would have also threatened the mood. He refused to apologise to Erik ten Hag after accusing him of lying and revelled in Rashford’s loan move to Aston Villa with that petulant “Freedom” comment in February.
Sancho has the freedom of movement to find himself a new club, most likely in Italy, a dumping ground for Premier League clubs for several years. Chelsea opted to buy Jamie Gittens, another winger bred in the Manchester City academy who defected to Borussia Dortmund, rather than Sancho. Gittens is five years Sancho's junior.
Ten Hag was ordered to briefly reintegrate Sancho last summer, without the desired apology. He managed the situation respectably and United got Sancho out of the door on transfer deadline day.
Yet the sight of Sancho back in a United shirt was a call effectively made by those above Ten Hag. His authority, already shrivelling, eroded a little more with Sancho on the plane to the United States for the pre-season tour.
The incumbent United manager still has total authority. That is the way it should be.