Manchester United reportedly explored the opportunity to sign RB Leipzig star Lois Openda during the recently closed summer transfer window.
Much has been written about Casemiro’s horror show in United’s 3-0 defeat by Liverpool. However, United’s attackers were not much better.
In particular, Joshua Zirkzee seemingly left his goal-scoring boots at home. Despite taking up good positions inside the penalty area, the young striker failed to convert two big chances on Sunday afternoon.
The Dutchman, who moved to United from Bologna, has already opened his account, but if he is to effectively challenge Rasmus Hojlund for the starting spot he needs to work on his finishing ability.
Interestingly, he is not the only striker the club’s recruitment team looked at during their search for a new number nine this summer.
It has already been widely reported that the Red Devils tried luring long-term target Benjamin Šeško to Old Trafford this summer. Now, it has emerged they also looked at his teammate.
According to SportBILD (via Sport Witness), United ‘came knocking’ for Openda. The Mancunian giants were joined by Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur in the race for the Belgian forward.
All suitors were turned away by the 24-year-old, who was keen to continue in Leipzig this summer.
However, the stance may change soon, as the Red Bull outfit would welcome a ‘mega sale’ to balance the books.
Since there is no release clause in Openda’s contract, the Bundesliga outfit is in a strong position to dictate the price-tag of the player who is tied to a contract until the summer of 2028.
It is added that any interested party will need to spend more than €75 million to sign Openda in the near future.
The Belgium international was directly involved in 35 club goals across all competitions last term, and he has started the new campaign on fire as well, scoring twice in Leipzig’s 3-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen.
If he maintains his current trajectory, the aforementioned figure will soon start appearing reasonable to many clubs.
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