Manchester United are in the market for a new striker this summer with Rasmus Hojlund not living up to his potential during his two years at Old Trafford.
Goals have been a commodity difficult to come across for Manchester United all season long, not exclusive to either of the three head coaches.
This trend continued on Tuesday night when United lost to Forest despite having the chances to win the game. After the 1-0 defeat, Ruben Amorim admitted his United team must improve in goalscoring, a sentiment which has been echoed on numerous occasions.
Due to this, United have a new striker on the priority list this summer, and there are already a number of names which are being linked with the club.
Liam Delap is one player United are certainly keen on signing this summer, as he would cost just £40m from Ipswich who are tumbling toward relegation.
More established options have been on the table such as Victor Osimhen and Viktor Gyokeres. While United also have a Bundesliga goal machine on the list.
Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images
Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images
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Manchester United are heating up in chances of signing Hugo Ekitike
Amorim needs United to give him a striker capable of scoring goals this summer. In a damning statistic, Harry Maguire’s movement in the box vs Forest saw him accumulate more expected goals then Rasmus Hojlund over his past 15 games.
One striker United are keen to sign as a way of solving this issue is Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt. United want to sign Ekitike this summer, as he continues to boast impressive goal scoring in Germany.
Now, BILD have reported that United are one club ‘hot’ on signing the Frenchman.
It is thought that Frankfurt will hope to keep him this summer, but if interest from a ‘big club’ like Arsenal, Liverpool, or Manchester United arrives, then a sale would be likely.
Frankfurt want £67 million in order to part with him this summer. In preparation for this, Frankfurt have lined up United target Jonathan Burkardt from Mainz as an option.
Hugo Ekitike slammed for weaknesses at Eintracht Frankfurt
United had scouts watching Ekitike score a hat-trick for France U21 during the international break and so they will be well aware of his talents.
However, in the BILD report, there is also some insight into how Ekitike is being viewed by Frankfurt, with it clear they feel he is far from the finished article.
The club would like to keep Ekitike and help him improve, with discussion lately said to be focussed around the striker being too selfish with the ball. It continues that he doesn’t have an eye to pass to better positioned teammates in the final third.
In sessions for Frankfurt, coaches, including Dino Toppmoller, have told Ekitike that he needs to improve his work rate off the ball, which is a criticism Amorim may be concerned by.
Amorim wants his players to work extremely hard with and without the ball, so if he isn’t going to put in the work then it would be a disaster from the get go.