Jorge Mendes trying to engineer Cristiano Ronaldo swap deal as Erik ten Hag looks for forward options

Manchester United, despite winning their last two Premier League fixtures, are clearly still in dire need of an attacking outlet.

With Edinson Cavani, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard all departing this summer on free contracts, United are down serious numbers in attack and need reinforcements.

A lot of this summer has been spent chasing Ajax’s Antony, with the Amsterdam club rejecting three separate bids for the player, the last totalling to €90 million for the Brazilian.

However, with Ajax rejecting all three bids, Manchester United are considering whether or not to launch a fourth bid or stay away from the deal.

This has come after Antony revealed publicly that he requested to leave the club back in February, saying: "Since February of this year, my agents came to Amsterdam to inform Ajax of my desire to leave the club to face new challenge and that some interested clubs would arrive and with them, certainly a great offer.”

Another saga that has engulfed the Red Devils this summer is the future of Cristiano Ronaldo.

It has been apparent since early July that the man who scored 24 goals last campaign wants to leave the club due to a lack of transfer activity and Champions League football.

However, despite his agent Jorge Mendes’ best efforts, it seems as if no other top club in Europe wants him.

The side who showed the most interest in him was Atletico Madrid, however a passionate display from fans urged Atleti not to buy the player, and since then the move has been deemed dead in the water.

Ronaldo’s old club Sporting Lisbon also seemed a viable destination, however the sporting manager has reportedly said that he would walk out on the job if Ronaldo were signed.

This has left Ronaldo in an awkward position as the final week of the Transfer Window draws to a close.

However, there may still be one club left who could swoop in for Cristiano Ronaldo; but it would take a lot of engineering for the move to go through – Napoli.

Napoli are long time admirers of Cristiano Ronaldo, and their president reportedly has a long standing interest in signing the striker, but they need to raise funds.

Napoli’s prize and most valuable player at the moment is Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen, and for Ronaldo to sign for the Italian club, the deal would most likely have to see Osimhen heading the other direction.

It has been reported that Jorge Mendes has ‘assured’ Napoli that Manchester United are soon going to bid for the Nigerian, and he also believes that United are willing to pay a large portion of Ronaldo’s wages as he joins the Naples club.

It is quite likely that as Napoli value the Nigerian at over €100 million, any swap deal would see United submit both a bid of Ronaldo and a large sum of cash for the striker.

Osimhen was actually close to a Manchester United move seasons ago, but ultimately decided against it as he did not want to compete against his idol Odion Ighalo.