The issue is that there just aren’t many great strikers available right now, and for the few that there are, there is a lot of competition from teams that are better placed currently to challenge for major honours.
Realistically, the options considered to be “top” players this summer amount to Osimhen, a player that has been sent to the Turkish league after falling out with his club and them being unable to find a buyer; and Gyökeres, who is soon to be 27 and has never performed in one of the top five European leagues.
Both would cost a fortune, with Osimhen’s wage demands considered to be obscene by some interested clubs. Really if they are the premium options then it’s clear the choices are pretty slim.
So if not them, then for Manchester United it’s a choice between players in the next bracket down in terms of quality (which doesn’t seem like a good idea) or going with a young up and coming striker who could kick on and become a top striker over the next couple of seasons.
Do we spend 50-60m on a player like Mateta who is proven to a degree and at 28 is experienced. Or do we spend 40m on someone like Liam Delap who in a couple of season’s time could well be the better player and has another 5-7 years at the top of the game.
You then have to think about the financial situation the club is in. If we bought Mateta for 60m, and on a relatively high wage, and he flopped we would be stuck with him as he’d have little resale value and few people who’d pay for him. Whereas if we signed Delap and he didn’t step up, his lower fee and wages, along with him being English, and his age means that we could sell him in a couple of years time and at least break even.
We do need to make more sensible signings, as the ones that have really hit us and put us in a bad financial position have been the big money hail Mary signings that have ultimately flopped.
As for Delap as a player, he has 12 league goals for an Ipswich side that still has some key players in their team who was there in League 1 with them a few seasons ago. He has done fantastically well in a side that is effectively a mid-table championship side playing in the EPL.
Compare that to our top scorer in the league is Bruno with 8 (several of which have been penalties). He’s better than what we have, with potential to become a top player. I think he’d be a sensible signing all things considered.
However, I’d also look to bring in Jonathan David on a free from Lille. At 25 he’s a good age and has a record of scoring 20 goals a season for the past 4 years. I’d then look to move on Højlund, who I still think has a lot of potential. But he just isn’t suited to play the way Amorim wants his strikers to play. His back to goal and build up play is extremely lacking, he is more suited to playing in a counter attacking team.
Under Ole I think he’d have been fantastic. But that isn’t the way we are looking to play. It might be that we need to loan him somewhere for a year to reduce the amount we need to sell him for without it being a loss and to hopefully help him find some form and tempt more buyers to drive the price up. Or you never know he might develop better at a team with less spotlight on him and maybe he comes back and is able to perform a role in the side.
Delap suits how Amorim wants his strikers to play, he’s physically strong and technically gifted, is able to bring others into play, is quick enough to run the channels and can create chances for himself. If we start next season with options of Delap and David with Højlund out on loan somewhere then I think that is probably the best possible outcome.
Written by Shappy April 09 2025 11:19:56
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