Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres
Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres (Image: Getty Images)
It is difficult not to sound like a broken record at times but Manchester United should be desperately scrambling to sign a centre-forward in the summer transfer window.
Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee both saw their goalscoring touch desert them this season and apart from Bruno Fernandes, who the Manchester Evening News understands is considering his future at the club, no player scored with much regularity, contributing to United's slide down the Premier League table. To make matters worse, the Reds have also seen their top transfer target Liam Delap reject them in favour of a move to Chelsea.
With Delap no longer a viable option, United need to be on the hunt for a striker. Time and time again the same names have cropped up as options.
Napoli's Victor Osimhen is set to depart Italy after spending last season on loan at Galatasaray. He bagged 37 goals in 41 appearances in Turkey.
Then there is Viktor Gyokeres. Sporting's star man has scored a whopping 54 goals in 52 appearances for the Portuguese club and has gained plenty of admirers along the way.
One of those is Barcelona ace Robert Lewandowski who is no stranger to racking up ridiculous numbers. However, when asked about the Swede, his response should ring alarm bells for United.
"I haven’t seen many players who have played more than two or three years at full strength and scored more than 40 goals," the Polish international explained to Mundo Deportivo. "That’s why I think the level of goals [in football] has dropped a bit, as we saw last season.
"It’s not easy to find a player like that these days." If this message does not spark Ineos and their recruitment team into life, nothing will.
Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski pictured at the F1 Grand Prix (Image: Getty Images)
Lewandowski has spelt it out plain and simply for United. There is a lack of quality centre-forward options in world football so a player of Gyokeres' ability is unlikely to be available again for a price that the Reds can afford.
Yes, £67m is a lot for a player who turns 27 on Wednesday but his prowess could be invaluable next season when the pressure on Ruben Amorim is hiked up further still. There really is not many options at centre-forward in world football this summer and if United miss out on a Gyokeres, they could be destined to repeat another doomed season.
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