A cursory glance at last season’s Premier League table will show that Manchester United will the joint lowest goalscorers among the top-10 teams, with the Red Devils scoring only five goals more than relegated Luton Town.
Only two players breached the double digit mark for goals scored in the league with Rasmus Hojlund emerging as the top scorer in his debut season with 16 goals.
The Dane clearly has potential but he is not the finished article yet and that showed at times but manager Erik ten Hag had no choice but to keep playing him due to the lack of alternatives at his disposal.
He had asked the Glazers for help, both last summer and in January, but nothing was forthcoming. Anthony Martial was perennially injured and has already left the club at the conclusion of his deal.
Goalscoring woes
Top-scorer the previous season, Marcus Rashford delivered arguably his worst season in a red shirt as he managed only eight goals in all competitions with off-field controversies making more noise than his exploits on the pitch.
It is clear that the young Danish sensation needs help upfront and INEOS want to add a striker to the ranks with Joshua Zirkzee’s name ranking highly as per latest reports.
AC Milan were frontrunners but they do not have the financial means to pay the player’s agent the kind of commission he is asking for. United are open to triggering the Netherlands star’s release clause with super agent Kia Joorabchian open to offering a discount to the 20-time English league champions.
Apart from his clean ball-striking and awareness, the Bologna ace is quite skilled when it comes to dribbling as seen from his stats which place him in the top one percent among all the forwards plying their trade in Italy (fotmob).
He is versatile and can play in a number of different positions and with finances tight at Old Trafford currently, the English giants might need to offload players in order to sign the exciting 23-year-old.
The arrival of the former Champions League winner with Bayern Munich could signal the end of Rashford’s time at his boyhood club if The Daily Star are to be believed.
“United, meanwhile, are considering triggering the £45m release clause of Bologna striker Zirkzee.
Rashford out, Zirkzee in
“The 23-year-old can play in a number of attacking positions, and was recently drafted into the Holland squad for Euro 2024, following injuries to Frenkie de Jong and Teun Koopmeiners.
“Zirkzee’s arrival at United would push Marcus Rashford close to an Old Trafford exit. Rashford, who missed out on the Euro 2024 squad, will be sold if any club matches United’s valuation of the 26-year-old, who managed just eight goals last season.”
This would be quite the sad end for the United academy graduate if he were to leave after only signing a contract extension last year following his best-ever season in terms of goals.
The England international even reportedly met the new hierarchy to convince them that he can make amends and it will be intriguing to see how Sir Jim Ratcliffe deals with this whole mess.
United are reportedly open to sale should a big offer come their way but so far, there has been no indication that one might arrive this summer.
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