As part of a significant summer rebuild, Manchester United is getting ready to increase their interest in Goncalo Ramos with a potential record bid.
Erik ten Hag's top transfer target for United is seasoned Spurs and England forward Harry Kane.
However, as billionaires Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatar Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani compete for control at Old Trafford, United are also planning to spend lavishly on other targets.
Gonaclo Ramos, 21, for Benfica, scored 24 goals this season and is regarded as a fantastic possibility for the future. United are now prepared to make contact with the Portugal striker who started in place of Cristiano Ronaldo and scored a hat-trick against Switzerland in the World Cup round of 16.
Ramos has stepped up this season at Benfica to fill Darwin Nunez's shoes after the Uruguayan's summer transfer to Liverpool.
United and Benfica are about to explore a deal valued between £70 million and £100 million, including add-ons.
The deal might surpass United's previous record transfer of Paul Pogba from Juventus for £89.3 million in August 2016.
This season, Ramos has established himself as one of Europe's most promising forwards, and Dutch coach Ten Hag, who has a history of cultivating talent, wants to work with the teenager.
Ten Hag is aware that United needs additional firepower as Marcus Rashford leads the team in goals scored with 29 to Bruno Fernandes' 11 goals.
Kane, 29, a goal machine for Tottenham, is also a target for United as his contract with Spurs is about to expire.
But in order to finally force Kane out of the North London club, United is prepared for tense negotiations with Daniel Levy.
While Benfica's financial strategy typically involves selling its top players for a significant profit.
After a string of Premier League away losses, United seems to be more focused on acquiring new players, but the fourth-place team is still on track to make the lucrative Champions League for the following season.
They also have a chance to win the FA Cup when they play Manchester City on June 3 at Wembley. They have won the Carabao Cup in February.
Manchester United not ruling out Victor Oshimen's move
Victor Osimhen, a striker for Napoli, is still a possibility for Manchester United.
Victor Osimhen, a striker for Napoli, has become one of the most sought-after strikers in the world this year after helping the Italian team win the Serie A championship.
His popularity has increased his price tag, which has been a double-edged sword for teams that are interested in signing him, but Napoli themselves maintain that he is not available. Victor Osimhen has scored 28 goals for Napoli this season, including five goals in six Champions League games and 23 goals in 28 Serie A games.
After Napoli won the Serie A championship last week, owner Aurelio de Laurentiis came out to say his top player isn't moving anywhere. He told Rai Sport: “Now we must not stop, but continue with our protagonists. Kvara and Osimhen are not moving.”
Manchester United are not convinced, believing every player has a price.
The Mail report: “Napoli are insisting publicly that the Nigerian is not for sale but the general consensus, at least between Chelsea and Manchester United, is that he is for around £130million.”
To accomplish this, Manchester United would have to spend a lot of money—possibly the entire transfer budget.
Osimhen, 24, is five years younger than Harry Kane, therefore it's also important to keep in mind that paying more money to recruit a striker with longer career prospects may make sense.
With player sales this summer, United can also raise the budget. Numerous people, including Harry Maguire and Fred, could be let go.
Osimhen is reportedly open to go to Manchester United, according to a Teamtalk story from last month. The club's willingness to make a trade is still up in the air, especially given the need for investment in other positions.
Manchester United desperately in need of a striker
There may have been some positional flexibility in the choices, but for Manchester United's three games last week, Erik ten Hag basically used three different strikers. Nothing better explains why, despite David de Gea's struggles in goal, a goalscoring No. 9 is at the top of his transfer list this summer.
Before Anthony Martial was reinstated against Brighton, Marcus Rashford was the player in charge of the line against Aston Villa. Then Wout Weghorst was chosen by West Ham, albeit he ultimately played in a position just behind Marcus Rashford. The three failed to score.
United only managed to score one goal in the three games, a deflected Bruno Fernandes shot against Villa, as a result of the tinkering to try and find a solution. During the week, Rashford played both left wing and striker. Fernandes played in the midfield, where he usually plays on the right and left. It makes sense why there was no rhythm to the attacks.
After 57 games this season, there is a sense that United are losing steam, but it can be easy to confuse exhaustion with just a loss of form, and there is undoubtedly some of that among key players. None of the forwards currently appear to be a threat, and the midfield has lost the quality and control it once had.
With the three goals conceded by Leicester City on Monday, the 19th-place squad now has the same number of Premier League goals as United this year. They have improved collectively from last season, but they still need eight more goals to equal their 57-goal total from that campaign. It is clear that it has been a significant problem this season because the four seasons prior saw 68, 65, 66, and 73 goals scored in the league.
This is made even more perplexing by the fact that Rashford has scored 29 goals in all competitions this season, which is the most for a United player since Robin van Persie scored 30 in a season ten years ago.
However, Rashford's goal-scoring improvement has changed from being a plus to becoming a game-breaker. From 2017–18 to 2020–21, United had four players score double digits in goals in each season. Romelu Lukaku, Jesse Lingard, Martial, and Rashford were the players in 2017–18. The next year, Lingard was replaced by Paul Pogba on the list.
Martial and Rashford were joined by Fernandes and Mason Greenwood in reaching double digits in 2019–20. Martial's goals in 2020–21 were replaced by Edinson Cavani's. However, the tendency has now ceased. Last season, it was only accomplished by Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo, and this term, it has only been accomplished by Fernandes (11) and Rashford (29).
There isn't much longer for anyone else to reach that total. Although Antony has eight, his goal-scoring ability is poor, and he ought to have scored at Brighton. Martial has seven but has gone eight games without a goal. Jadon Sancho, one of the other forwards, has six but only one in his previous 17 games and is once again in a dip. Alejandro Garnacho has five goals but hasn't returned to the field since suffering an injury. In 26 games, Weghorst has scored twice.
All season long, Rashford has been the center of attention, and it is starting to cause problems now that his form has dipped recently. Sancho and he both took his goals at Tottenham beautifully, but he has only scored once in his last seven outings.
In their last six games across all competitions, United has scored only three times, going scoreless in four of them. They have gone five games without scoring in the Premier League.
It explains why acquiring a striker this summer is the top priority, even if it will consume the majority of the transfer money, which won't go very far without being increased by sales.
After the game on Sunday, Weghorst told Dutch media that he hadn't been told he wouldn't play for United the next year, but that his two goals in 34 Premier League games for both Burnley and United should have been enough to convince anyone otherwise. Against the Hammers, he did manage to get a shot on goal, putting him in a small club.
At the London Stadium, United shot carelessly, but their early burst of attempts were at best half-chances. Not until Martial's two chances in stoppage time did they return. The better opportunities were lost Thursday night at Brighton.
United recorded xG totals of 1.2 (Villa), 1.4 (Brighton), and 1.2 (West Ham) in their three games played last week. They ought to have scored more, but the supply line also needed improvement. Maintaining Fernandes in a key position would aid in that.
But the finest attackers can create their own opportunities in addition to seizing the few that are presented to them. When Tottenham defeated Brighton 2-1 with a goal from Harry Kane, their xG was under one. Even though they were destroyed at Newcastle, they had an exact xG of one, and Kane scored. They had an xG of 0.9 versus Crystal Palace, but they won thanks to a goal by, you guessed it, Kane.
There isn't a striker at United who can do that. On Sunday, United would not have lost if Kane had converted the late opportunities instead of Martial. It's that easy. They therefore require a top goal scorer this summer.
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