Manchester United finally have an air of hope and clarity around them after Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s interview was followed by an ambitious plan and now a transfer update can be added to it.
Man Utd announced new stadium plans recently in an exciting development, with Ineos putting the money where their mouth is.
The stadium is expected to take five years to finish, and now that the big question mark of that is dealt with, the question moves to the team taking the field in that stadium.
While it’s impossible to plan for the team five years in the future, a player who could well be a part of that spine has just been confirmed to leave his current club in the summer window.
Photo by Daniele Badolato - Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images
Photo by Daniele Badolato – Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images
Man Utd’s summer transfer boost
Manchester United are entering a pivotal summer transfer window where they will finally have their ideal executive and managerial team in place.
A blockbuster summer window has already been predicted by transfer insiders for Man Utd and despite the current struggles, Ineos have shown crucial ambition.
There are various areas of urgent need but looking at the league table, one thing stands out more than the others and that’s the striker position.
Barring Chido Obi being thrown into the deep end, they have just one natural striker in Rasmus Hojlund, a struggling one at that.
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Joshua Zirkzee is a No. 10 now despite his intermittent outings as a striker which leads United to Dusan Vlahovic, the Serbian hitman they’ve been linked to before.
Italian outlet Tutto Mercato Web reports that Vlahovic is no longer considered a part of the Juventus project, with his departure in the summer a matter of “when”, not “if”.
United’s interest in Vlahovic has been long-standing and with the player still only 25, he hits the sweet spot of a growing player with already established credentials.
Dusan Vlahovic transfer will depend on two factors
In theory, Vlahovic is the ideal forward for Ruben Amorim’s system, especially since Viktor Gyokeres to Man Utd looks unlikely by the minute.
Vlahovic combines raw pace with physicality, and is a victim to Juventus being just generally allergic to scoring goals and using their centre-forward.
However, therein lies the first factor, because as it stands, United play the same way so an argument can be made that the club needs a striker who can create for himself as well.
Then comes the wage question, with Ineos eager to trim the wage bill down and not repeat mistakes of the past.
Vlahovic earns north of £300k/week in gross wages, a tough ask for United to match when they’ve been trying to move away from that kind of transfer.
If Vlahovic agrees to a wage more in line with United’s new structure and the scouts are convinced of his ability to thrive at Old Trafford, then there aren’t many players who would be better value for money than him.