Manchester United’s current options in attack are thin, inexperienced and have lacked consistency over the past few years.
Last season’s top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo has been heavily linked with a move away from the club all summer, though his options seem few, or none at all, with Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid publicly all but ruling out moves for the forward, and Thomas Tuchel reportedly not keen to bring in Ronaldo.
That leaves three senior forwards in Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, all of whom have chipped in with goals on United’s pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia.
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However, the trio managed just 11 goals between them last campaign, and manager Erik ten Hag is fully aware of the need for strength in depth, especially in the offensive areas.
As reported by Samuel Luckhurst Friday, United football director John Murtough met with the agent of RB Salzburg striker Benjamin Sesko last Wednesday, with the Reds weighing up the 19-year-old as a serious option in attack.
Sesko scored the winner in Salzburg’s friendly against arch-rivals Liverpool on Wednesday, chipping in with 10 goals in his breakout season in 2021/22 in Austria.
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The mould of the striker has been compared to that of Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, with the Norwegian first making a name for himself at Salzburg too before moving to Borussia Dortmund.
On further additions to the squad, last week, Ten Hag said: “I am really happy with our performances of our midfield department and offensive department at this moment.
“But I also know about this season – we talk about it in Bangkok and Melbourne – it’s a lot of games, the World Cup, so we need more options where you have a good team, and it’s not only about the team, you need a good squad to get the right results at the end of the season.
“We have to strengthen the squad even more and we are looking around but we also need the right players.”
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Ajax winger Antony has been another name United have been linked with in recent weeks, with Ten Hag the man who brought the Brazilian to Europe in 2020 when he made the move from Sao Paulo, following a very similar trail of United’s latest signing Lisandro Martinez.
Earlier this week, it was confirmed Martinez will be wearing the number six shirt which was last worn by Paul Pogba, with another summer signing in Christian Eriksen choosing number 14, formerly used by Jesse Lingard.
Both Pogba and Lingard left on a free earlier this summer.
Pogba returned back to Italian giants Juventus on a free for the second time, whilst Lingard signed for Premier League new boys Nottingham Forest last week.
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Lingard is not the only United academy graduate to make his way to the two-time European Cup winners, as Dean Henderson has joined the side on loan for the upcoming campaign after Erik ten Hag chose David de Gea as the club’s upcoming goalkeeper next season.
Manchester United are set to take on Atletico Madrid on Saturday as one of the club's final two pre-season fixtures ahead of the start of the 2022/23 Premier League season.
The squad that travelled to Oslo has been confirmed, with Luke Shaw a noticeable absentee. It has been reported that Ten Hag is planning on fielding his strongest XI during this fixture, with a second-string side taking on Rayo Vallecano the following day at Old Trafford.
Topics: Manchester United, Manchester United Transfer News & Rumours, Erik Ten Hag, Cristiano Ronaldo, Transfers
Aadam Haladh