Potential striker signings (who aren't named Højlund)

sullydnl

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With reports that Cavani will not be here for long and Martial continuing to be less-than-convincing, our centre-forward position once again looks in need of strengthening this summer.

Obviously Haaland seems to be everyone's first choice right now.

If he moved to another club though, who are the next best options to target? I'm struggling to think of many.
 

Rozay

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If we can’t get Haaland this summer, we sign for another position provided we can get Cavani to commit to another year.

For all the flak he gets from his fans - if we don’t get Haaland it is highly unlikely we can get any striker who is better than Martial. He’s had some bad form, which happens - but he’s clearly jot a 5 goal a season striker. He could do that in a good month if he’s on it.

If not Haaland - get Sancho or Grealish and reassess CF next year.
 

Dante

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I'd like a hard working target man for our wide-forwards, Rashford and Greenwood, to play off. Someone who can do what Firmino does now or Tevez did in the 2008 team (though he wasn't really a target man as such).

DCL is the most obvious candidate.
 
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Judas

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If we can’t get Haaland this summer, we sign for another position provided we can get Cavani to commit to another year.

For all the flak he gets from his fans - if we don’t get Haaland it is highly unlikely we can get any striker who is better than Martial. He’s had some bad form, which happens - but he’s clearly jot a 5 goal a season striker. He could do that in a good month if he’s on it.

If not Haaland - get Sancho or Grealish and reassess CF next year.
My minds a bit blank right now but I can't and don't want to believe this is true. Martial isn't that high a bar at all, in theory he is, but in reality not so much.
 

AjaxCunian

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Funnily enough, I think Memphis would be a great option. Has been a top 3 attacker in France the laat 3 seasons, only comes after Neymar and Mbappe. He is the star for Holland, with van Dijk, a key player, grown as a person, would be free, no huge wages. Fluid in the front line, very strong, scores with both feet, works hard, creates for others, creates for himself. His first stint here was horrible though, think that massively works against him. But he was way too heavy back then, and misused as a winger whilst he's a wide forward.
 

groovyalbert

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It's shite, but the drop off in talent of who is a genuine option after Haaland is huge.

Assuming we're bringing in a striker/Cavani is off, I guess putting feelers out for Kane wouldn't be the daftest idea - not that it would lead to anything, Calvert-Lewin too perhaps.

After that you're looking at the likes of Ings I reckon. Can't think of any other striker in Europe who we'd be in for this summer.
 

Hailee

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Mbappe is the obvious one, but he is equally as unlikely as Haaland.

Ronaldo might be available especially if Juve goes broke.

Lukaku is always a good option. Inter looks broke here and a good offer for Lukaku looks enough to prise him away. I expect the clubs who lost the Haaland and Mbappe sweepstakes to go after him next.
 

Hawks2008

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Haland or Kane are the dream for sure, but we would have to move heaven and earth to secure one of them. Andre Silva or Alexander Isak could be more cost effective options.
 

VP89

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Shame he's had injuries and wasn't able to get some continuity with the ups and downs of his team this season - but on paper Ings would have been nice. I don't think him getting most goals from open play last season over the likes of Vardy and Aubameyang was some fluke. He's a very good player when fit.
 

sullydnl

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Some of Europe's top scorers this season:

Robert Lewandowski (Bayern München, GER)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus, ITA)
André Silva (Frankfurt, GER)
Erling Haaland (Dortmund, GER)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona, ESP)
Romelu Lukaku (Inter, ITA)
Kylian Mbappé (Paris, FRA)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, ENG)
Luis Suárez (Atlético, ESP)
Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United, ENG)
Harry Kane (Tottenham, ENG)
Gerard Moreno (Villarreal, ESP)
Luis Muriel (Atalanta, ITA)
Wout Weghorst (Wolfsburg, GER)

Other than Haaland, any of them viable CF targets for a top club this summer?

Some from the CL/EL too:

10 Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund, UEFA Champions League)
7 Pizzi (Benfica, UEFA Europa League)
7 Yusuf Yazıcı (LOSC Lille, UEFA Europa League)
7 Marcus Rashford (Manchester United, UEFA Champions League/UEFA Europa League)
6 Carlos Vinícius (Tottenham, UEFA Europa League)
6
Álvaro Morata (Juventus, UEFA Champions League)
6 Neymar (Paris, UEFA Champions League)
6 Munas Dabbur (Hoffenheim, UEFA Europa League)
6 Olivier Giroud (Chelsea, UEFA Champions League)
6
Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla, UEFA Champions League)

5 Lior Refaelov (Antwerp, UEFA Europa League)
5
Leon Bailey (Leverkusen, UEFA Europa League)
5 Ciro Immobile (Lazio, UEFA Champions League)
5 Mikael Ishak (Lech Poznań, UEFA Europa League)
5 Lukás Juliš (Sparta Praha, UEFA Europa League)
5 Donyell Malen (PSV, UEFA Europa League)
5 Kylian Mbappé (Paris, UEFA Champions League)
5
Darwin Núñez (Benfica, UEFA Europa League)
5 Borja Mayoral (Roma, UEFA Europa League)
5 Eran Zahavi (PSV Eindhoven, UEFA Europa League)
5 Alassane Pléa (Borussia Mönchengladbach, UEFA Champions League)
5
Paco Alcácer (Villarreal, UEFA Europa League)
5 Michael Liendl (Wolfsberg, UEFA Europa League)
5 Sérgio Oliveira (Porto, UEFA Champions League)
 

Rozay

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My minds a bit blank right now but I can't and don't want to believe this is true. Martial isn't that high a bar at all, in theory he is, but in reality not so much.
In reality being 'on current form'. In reality also means that we cannot go and buy Harry Kane or whoever else you may think is better.

But yes, the gist of my post was that the reality is that he's a very good player, probably better than he's currently given credit for. Haaland is the only clear improvement on him that I think is available.
 

DWelbz19

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If we can’t get Haaland this summer, we sign for another position provided we can get Cavani to commit to another year.

For all the flak he gets from his fans - if we don’t get Haaland it is highly unlikely we can get any striker who is better than Martial. He’s had some bad form, which happens - but he’s clearly jot a 5 goal a season striker. He could do that in a good month if he’s on it.

If not Haaland - get Sancho or Grealish and reassess CF next year.
Agreed. The ideal scenario for me is that Dortmund retain Haaland an additional year, and we purchase Sancho this summer. We then join the pack chasing him next year, with that position and target being our clear focus.

I'd rather have an alternative position rectified as best we can, than half-measure it with a no.9.
 

M Bison

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I was all for signing Raul Giminez before his injury, not sure he'll come back the same player he was.
 

Brightonian

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If you can't get Haaland, you look to try and secure Sancho or Grealish, and either keep Cavani on for another season or find another cheap option, and potentially look at accelerating Greenwood into the #9 position where we all know he needs to end up eventually anyway.
 

Ali Dia

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If we can’t get Haaland this summer, we sign for another position provided we can get Cavani to commit to another year.

For all the flak he gets from his fans - if we don’t get Haaland it is highly unlikely we can get any striker who is better than Martial. He’s had some bad form, which happens - but he’s clearly jot a 5 goal a season striker. He could do that in a good month if he’s on it.

If not Haaland - get Sancho or Grealish and reassess CF next year.
I totally agree with this but I think what is also important is that we don’t let the next generation of top players go to the likes of Dortmund without putting up a much better fight. We can’t afford to be paying them 100 million for players after a few seasons in an easier league, it’s not sustainable, especially we’ve seen massive transfers flop all over the place in the past few years. There’s nothing stopping us loaning similar players to the BL clubs in the champions league for a season or 2 if that’s what everyone agrees on. Who’s to say Dortmund wouldn’t take them off us? They like a loan (Renier, Hakimi etc) and can still offer plenty of football. The likes of Bellingham Sancho and Haaland would have played plenty here from the season they signed though. Dortmund have a great setup to be fair to them but there’s no reason they should be consistently beating us to top young players if we are selling ourselves properly.
 

Bojan Djordjic

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Funnily enough, I think Memphis would be a great option. Has been a top 3 attacker in France the laat 3 seasons, only comes after Neymar and Mbappe. He is the star for Holland, with van Dijk, a key player, grown as a person, would be free, no huge wages. Fluid in the front line, very strong, scores with both feet, works hard, creates for others, creates for himself. His first stint here was horrible though, think that massively works against him. But he was way too heavy back then, and misused as a winger whilst he's a wide forward.
I think Memphis is a decent shout. He's free, hitting his peak, extremely productive and not so young that he's likely to be a permanent blocker for Greenwood, if he's to eventually prove good enough to take the number 9 position.

Obviously if Haaland is available you just take him every day of the week. The word generational is thrown around willy nilly on here but he and Mbappe are surely the only generational strikers on the planet. A lot of people said that he'd be starved of supply at United but that can be fixed in time. There's only one Haaland.
 

LuckyScout78

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If not Haaland. I personally think and believe and i am satisfy with Rashford as alone CF. And I m satisfy with Greenwood as a CF option too. If Greenwood can turn out to be as good as Left CF Van Persie. I really hope Greenwood reach Van Persie level.

Why i am satisfy with Rashford and Greenwood as CF options? If those two have a Bruno and equal level like Paul Scholes behind him. Rashford and Greenwood are future 20 goals each season CF. It mean Paul Pogba has to reach Paul Scholes consistent level.
Then i would go for Sancho or others with same level for RW.

Then potential line up:

Paul Scholes/Pogba - McTom/Fred

Sancho/Diallo - Bruno/Beek- Martial/James/Sancho

Greenwood/Rashford

The CF performance clearly is depending on the level of Pogba/Scholes. Not only with Bruno as nr.10 and the others wide players.
 

troylocker

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Signing a striker not named Haaland this summer would mean never signing Erling Haaland. Unless Haaland signs for someone else this summer, that is a no, no and no for me.
 

Tallis

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Some of Europe's top scorers this season:

Robert Lewandowski (Bayern München, GER)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus, ITA)
André Silva (Frankfurt, GER)
Erling Haaland (Dortmund, GER)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona, ESP)
Romelu Lukaku (Inter, ITA)
Kylian Mbappé (Paris, FRA)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, ENG)
Luis Suárez (Atlético, ESP)
Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United, ENG)
Harry Kane (Tottenham, ENG)
Gerard Moreno (Villarreal, ESP)
Luis Muriel (Atalanta, ITA)
Wout Weghorst (Wolfsburg, GER)

Other than Haaland, any of them viable CF targets for a top club this summer?

Some from the CL/EL too:

10 Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund, UEFA Champions League)
7 Pizzi (Benfica, UEFA Europa League)
7 Yusuf Yazıcı (LOSC Lille, UEFA Europa League)
7 Marcus Rashford (Manchester United, UEFA Champions League/UEFA Europa League)
6 Carlos Vinícius (Tottenham, UEFA Europa League)
6 Álvaro Morata (Juventus, UEFA Champions League)
6 Neymar (Paris, UEFA Champions League)
6 Munas Dabbur (Hoffenheim, UEFA Europa League)
6 Olivier Giroud (Chelsea, UEFA Champions League)
6 Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla, UEFA Champions League)

5 Lior Refaelov (Antwerp, UEFA Europa League)
5 Leon Bailey (Leverkusen, UEFA Europa League)
5 Ciro Immobile (Lazio, UEFA Champions League)
5 Mikael Ishak (Lech Poznań, UEFA Europa League)
5 Lukás Juliš (Sparta Praha, UEFA Europa League)
5 Donyell Malen (PSV, UEFA Europa League)
5 Kylian Mbappé (Paris, UEFA Champions League)
5 Darwin Núñez (Benfica, UEFA Europa League)
5 Borja Mayoral (Roma, UEFA Europa League)
5 Eran Zahavi (PSV Eindhoven, UEFA Europa League)
5 Alassane Pléa (Borussia Mönchengladbach, UEFA Champions League)
5 Paco Alcácer (Villarreal, UEFA Europa League)
5 Michael Liendl (Wolfsberg, UEFA Europa League)
5 Sérgio Oliveira (Porto, UEFA Champions League)
Andre Silva seems to be an interesting prospect if you filter on the basis of price, age, feasibility and track record/ experience.
Can’t say that I have watched a lot of him - would be grateful for others views.

Sell Martial and sign him ?
 

Rozay

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I totally agree with this but I think what is also important is that we don’t let the next generation of top players go to the likes of Dortmund without putting up a much better fight. We can’t afford to be paying them 100 million for players after a few seasons in an easier league, it’s not sustainable, especially we’ve seen massive transfers flop all over the place in the past few years. There’s nothing stopping us loaning similar players to the BL clubs in the champions league for a season or 2 if that’s what everyone agrees on. Who’s to say Dortmund wouldn’t take them off us? They like a loan (Renier, Hakimi etc) and can still offer plenty of football. The likes of Bellingham Sancho and Haaland would have played plenty here from the season they signed though. Dortmund have a great setup to be fair to them but there’s no reason they should be consistently beating us to top young players if we are selling ourselves properly.
That will of course be ideal - but the way I see it, there is a food chain/eco-system in the football world for a number of reasons. We should be grateful that United are higher up on that food chain than Dortmund! There is a time when a club like Molde made sense for Haaland, there is a time when a club like Salzburg made sense for him, a time for Dortmund and now we're entering into a time for a United, Paris, Real , Bayern etc.

In fairness to us, we've also always tried to sign the best young players where we can. We've signed Amad for big money, Pellistri, we've broken world records for teenagers more than any club in the world in my lifetime. We also tried to sign Haaland himself, as we did Bellingham and Sancho!

I don't get the impression we much favour the 'buy-to-let' approach with top talent. We like ours to develop here so they can be coated in this DNA we speak so much about. Normally, when we buy promising teenagers, they are fed into the first team over a couple of years.

Also you have to think of the will of the players. There is a clear appeal now with clubs like Dortmund. Even all the top English kids are trying to run to Germany now.
 

Rozay

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Andre Silva seems to be an interesting prospect if you filter on the basis of price, age, feasibility and track record/ experience.
Can’t say that I have watched a lot of him - would be grateful for others views.

Sell Martial and sign him ?
He was a failure at Milan, and has rarely ever impressed me for Portugal. As I said, most of these players are no better than Martial. Silva may well have a great career. He's basically doing the same things that Luka Jovic was doing at the same club, and he's also turned out to not be an upgrade on someone like Martial. Martial is still relatively young and has shown that he can score 20+ goals here, at the top level. I suspect a lot of these guys who have knocked a few in in Italy or Germany will not better him. They are not Golden Ball winner level talents.

Haaland is clearly special, but some of the others wouldn't be cheap and are a bit meh I think.
 

Ali Dia

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That will of course be ideal - but the way I see it, there is a food chain/eco-system in the football world for a number of reasons. We should be grateful that United are higher up on that food chain than Dortmund! There is a time when a club like Molde made sense for Haaland, there is a time when a club like Salzburg made sense for him, a time for Dortmund and now we're entering into a time for a United, Paris, Real , Bayern etc.

In fairness to us, we've also always tried to sign the best young players where we can. We've signed Amad for big money, Pellistri, we've broken world records for teenagers more than any club in the world in my lifetime. We also tried to sign Haaland himself, as we did Bellingham and Sancho!

I don't get the impression we much favour the 'buy-to-let' approach with top talent. We like ours to develop here so they can be coated in this DNA we speak so much about. Normally, when we buy promising teenagers, they are fed into the first team over a couple of years.

Also you have to think of the will of the players. There is a clear appeal now with clubs like Dortmund. Even all the top English kids are trying to run to Germany now.
The food chain argument is part of the reason we signed Alexis and have an underserving DDG as the highest paid keeper in the world. Always taking the lazy but expensive option just because we can is a bit of a cop out unless I’m not seeing the bigger picture. Paying Ighalo nearly 200k a week and not using him for the 5 months after we got Cavani to do the same role but upgraded is mad enough. We've thrown the big money around but in a disorganised short term way.

I agree players are a lot smarter about controlling their own destiny and we aren’t the be all and end all these days but surely we could show these players hey you’ll get loads of games and we can pay you more if you’re willing to trust us with your future. You’re going straight into the first team if you sign now and save us a 100 million down the road type thing. :lol: I think regular CL football and a manager that’s going to stick around will be a big draw for players on the cusp going forward.
 
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Tallis

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He was a failure at Milan, and has rarely ever impressed me for Portugal. As I said, most of these players are no better than Martial. Silva may well have a great career. He's basically doing the same things that Luka Jovic was doing at the same club, and he's also turned out to not be an upgrade on someone like Martial. Martial is still relatively young and has shown that he can score 20+ goals here, at the top level. I suspect a lot of these guys who have knocked a few in in Italy or Germany will not better him. They are not Golden Ball winner level talents.

Haaland is clearly special, but some of the others wouldn't be cheap and are a bit meh I think.
Fair enough although I do wonder about Jovic and what May have been if someone other than Zidane had managed him
 

andersj

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I want depay back.
Want that old thing back!

Would you want him for a fee or is it just because he is free? I see your point. I think he is more consistent than Martial. That being said, he is also very similar and not really a striker. However, Man Utd looks good when Martial is good, so a similar, more consistent player could make sense.
 

Look-a-Hill

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The food chain argument is part of the reason we signed Alexis and have an underserving DDG as the highest paid keeper in the world. Always taking the lazy but expensive option just because we can is a bit of a cop out unless I’m not seeing the bigger picture. Paying Ighalo nearly 200k a week and not using him for the 5 months after we got Cavani to do the same role but upgraded is mad enough. We've thrown the big money around but in a disorganised short term way.

I agree players are a lot smarter about controlling their own destiny and we aren’t the be all and end all these days but surely we could show these players hey you’ll get loads of games and we can pay you more if you’re willing to trust us with your future. You’re going straight into the first team if you sign now and save us a 100 million down the road type thing. :lol: I think regular CL football and a manager that’s going to stick around will be a big draw for players on the cusp going forward.
Just don't let them talk to Donny.
 

RUCK4444

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Sorry but there should only be one priority and that’s Haaland.

Nobody near his ability that is available. I’d rather not waste a tonne of our budget on an inferior player.
 

Rozay

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The food chain argument is part of the reason we signed Alexis and have an underserving DDG as the highest paid keeper in the world. Always taking the lazy but expensive option just because we can is a bit of a cop out unless I’m not seeing the bigger picture. Paying Ighalo nearly 200k a week and not using him for the 5 months after we got Cavani to do the same role but upgraded is mad enough. We've thrown the big money around but in a disorganised short term way.

I agree players are a lot smarter about controlling their own destiny and we aren’t the be all and end all these days but surely we could show these players hey you’ll get loads of games and we can pay you more if you’re willing to trust us with your future. You’re going straight into the first team if you sign now and save us a 100 million down the road type thing. :lol: I think regular CL football and a manager that’s going to stick around will be a big draw for players on the cusp going forward.
Hmm, I think you should be careful what you wish for! I'd rather be a United in the food chain than a Dortmund - as exciting as that may seem. That's partly why we didn't sign Haaland last time round. We were being pitched to play the Dortmund role in Haaland's development - seemingly for a club in the United role to come in later. That's not who we want to be.

We've spent more money because we are bigger dogs and can afford it. The £30k a week waste of money at one club is a £200k waste at ours.