Liam Delap choosing Chelsea is a massive blow for Manchester United – much more damaging than it would have been for the Blues had the 22-year-old snubbed them in favour of the Red Devils.
Chelsea are an attractive club to play for right now; Manchester United are not. It’s not Delap or bust for Chelsea, but that feels very much the case for United.
Delap was perfect: young; cheap; scores Premier League goals. And crucially, while United are terrible, they are definitely better than Ipswich.
Not only do they not have European football as a draw, there’s also no light at the end of a tunnel which has grown longer under Ruben Amorim thanks to a philosophy and system almost laughably unsuited to the players in his squad. Any striker joining United this summer will wonder how long a contract might need to be for them to see a semblance of success at Old Trafford.
History, a fading assumption that things must get better at Manchester United because This Is Manchester United and a promise of game time are about the only selling points Amorim and his recruitment team can use to lure players to the club this summer.
That won’t be enough for Viktor Gyokeres, Benjamin Sesko, Hugo Ekitike or other top-level goalscorers United would previously have been vying to sign, and our struggle to come up with these seven striker options – most of whom still feel like unlikely additions for various reasons – shows just how bleak things are for Amorim in the search for anyone who can put the ball in the back of the net.
Victor Osimhen (Napoli)
Naming United’s director of negotiations Matt Hargreaves along with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis and sporting director Giovanni Manna in a report claiming a meeting has been held in Naples to discuss a swap deal for Osimhen adds a level of credence to a rumour we would otherwise have dismissed out of hand. Kudos to the reporter for their commitment to the clicks if it is indeed nonsense.
Osimhen is a world-class striker who’s scored 36 goals on loan at Galatasaray this term and 100 goals in his last four seasons. He’s in that top rung of goalscorers currently available for transfer. And weirdly, despite being very available – Napoli are desperate to get rid of him with his contract expiring at the end of next season – there appears to be scant competition to sign him.
Arsenal and Liverpool have turned their noses up for some reason, Paris Saint-Germain are no longer keen and even Chelsea appear to have gone off the idea of signing a brilliant 26-year-old striker for £65m on £200,000-per-week wages. Sounds good to us.
And amid reports that, unlike other top strikers, Osimhen isn’t all that bothered about Champions League football, we wonder if the Nigerian doesn’t have something of a chip on his shoulder…a burning desire to prove doubters wrong.
He can find a kindred spirit in that pursuit at Old Trafford in Amorim, and we’re sure (actually we’re not, but we hope) Osimhen would rather be scoring Premier League goals, even for Manchester United, than Saudi Pro League goals for whichever PIF club offers him a billion pounds a year to play in front of tens of people.
Jean-Philippe Mateta (Crystal Palace)
We love him and really don’t want him, Eberechi Eze, Adam Wharton or anyone else to leave Palace ahead of their Europa League campaign as Oliver Glasner – having already won it once before with Frankfurt – could do something really rather special with this group if he can keep them together.
Reports suggesting Mateta is open to a move as he looks to catch Didier Deschamps’ eye ahead of the World Cup in 2026 begs the question as to whether he’s more likely to do that by staying at Palace and playing in Europe or through moving to Old Trafford. We’re leaning towards the latter as for better or worse, Deschamps – like everyone else – will be very aware of what Mateta is doing if he becomes United’s new No.9.
He could be great as well. He’s what Rasmus Hojlund should be – a bully who holds the ball up well with a decent touch, brings playmakers into the game, runs in behind and gets on the end of crosses. Another significant boon for Amorim is that Mateta has thrived for Palace in the 3-4-3 formation he is trying to make work at Old Trafford.
Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
Anyone not watching Villa week in, week out, and actually a fair few who have, would claim this was something of a fallow season for Watkins. A fair point compared to last term perhaps, but a Premier League return of 16 goals and eight assists meant only four players – Mohamed Salah (47), Alexander Isak (29), Bryan Mbeumo (27) and Erling Haaland (25) – finished the campaign with more goal contributions than the 29-year-old, in what was his second-best top-flight season in that regard.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS team made a point of not wanting to sign players over the age of 25 when they took charge of football operations, in a bid to ensure their market values at least had a chance of increasing in their time at the club, rather than fading to nothing as has been the case for pretty much everyone signed in the last decade.
The England international would have to hit the ground running and score goals at a fair lick to avoid his value dropping as he turns 30 in December, but needs must and United just need to find someone, anyone who can lead the line – as Watkins has done very, very well for Villa under Unai Emery – and score goals.
Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen)
His age (29) is about the only stick you can beat Schick with given his schtick this season has been scoring more Bundesliga goals (21) than anyone but Serhou Guirassy (also 21) and Harry Kane (26).
Reports suggest Bayer Leverkusen would be open to bids of around £30m for a striker who could probably be tempted by a move to any Premier League team – with or without European football – such is his long-held desire to play in the English top flight.
Meanwhile, Hugo Ekitike and Benjamin Sesko, who have been linked with the top-tier clubs looking for strikers this summer, have both had £80m-£100m price tags slapped on them despite scoring 15 and 13 Bundesliga goals respectively.
Schick would be a relatively low risk, cheap option for United.
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Christopher Nkunku (Chelsea)
Talking of risk, Nkunku might just be the most perilous option. He’s done nothing at Chelsea to suggest he’s got what it takes to be a Premier League footballer. He’s done plenty to suggest he’s not cut out for it. And yet… he is a very talented footballer – ‘there’s a player in there’ as they say.
But while that player could perhaps be uncovered at Liverpool or another stable football club, Manchester United are not in a position to be lifting a footballer from a slump, while a move to Old Trafford will almost certainly see Nkunku scrabbling on his hands and knees at the cloying soil at the base of the hole he finds himself to find the rocks at the very bottom.
Moise Kean (Fiorentina)
His signing is unlikely to be widely heralded by the United fanbase on the basis of a Premier League career which saw him score just four goals in 39 appearances for Everton having been seen as quite the transfer coup when Marco Silva persuaded him to join from Juventus in 2019. He was only a kid at the time though and has developed his game in the meantime to become a far more rounded striker.
Kean scored 19 Serie A goals this season, behind on Mateo Retegui (25), including braces against Roma and Inter, and goals against Juventus, Atalanta and AC Milan.
He has a €52m [£44m] release clause, which feels reasonable, and may well feel as though he has unfinished business in the Premier League.
Jonathan Burkardt (Mainz)
A ‘wildcard’ option according to the Manchester Evening News, presumably because – like us – their laser-like Premier League focus meant Burkardt had barely registered until they looked at the Bundesliga goalscoring charts and saw his name fourth on the list after 18 goals for Mainz.
We won’t profess to have seen Burkardt in action enough to make a claim over his suitability to United in terms of style, but everything about a move for him feels pretty perfect besides an eye test which we’re 100% sure would lead us to insist he’s a better bet than Hojlund.
He’s 24, a Germany international, has frequently played in a 3-4-3 and has a release clause of just €20m [£17m]. The not insignificant issue for United is that Frankfurt have supposedly made Burkardt their top target if Ekitike gets poached by one of the big boys, and they can offer him Champions League football. But United should absolutely be looking into this one at the very least.