Manchester United are eyeing a loan move to bolster Erik ten Hag’s attack after going over budget in the summer when they poured more than £200m into the Dutch manager’s squad.
Ten Hag were interested in Dutch international Cody Gakpo but missed out on Liverpool, who were willing to pay £37m up front on a permanent deal. United have been looking to address a shortage of striker options with Cristiano Ronaldo no longer at the club and Jadon Sancho currently unavailable, with a preference for a short-term deal for the second half of the campaign.
“We are always in the market, but it has to match the sporting criteria, but also the financial criteria,” Ten Hag said after the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night. “We are looking for offensive players, we are looking for a striker, it would be good because all the games will come, we play every three days and it is tough.
“For the progress of the team we have to be more clinical, our players can score, you see. [Anthony] Martial is a goalscorer, [Marcus] Rashford is a goalscorer, Bruno [Fernandes] will score goals We have many players who can score goals, but we have to be ruthless.”
United would like a No.9 to play through the middle but will not be limited to a centre-forward if a suitable and versatile striker hits the market when the transfer window opens next week.
But the focus of Ten Hag’s recruitment team has been on loans, given their previous window when Antony, Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia were bought and Christian Eriksen arrived on a free. United co-owner Avram Glazer was in Qatar during the World Cup but is understood to have concentrated on selling the club rather than meeting super agents in Doha over January transfers.
After going down in the Europa League, United had not anticipated such a strong investment last summer and after making the decision to strengthen the Ten Hag squad, they knew the next window would be affected.
Who could United sign in January?
United’s options in the market next month depend on what is available, initially from the loan market. With forwards being the hardest position to recruit, they could eventually look for a player who can play across the front line. Memphis Depay, who was at the club from 2015-17, is in that category of player, but there is nothing in terms of his return.
Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix, who is wanted by Chelsea, is also available in January, but it is believed that terms on a loan could delay United.
Gakpo was mainly used as a wide forward at PSV, with Louis van Gaal playing him through the middle at the World Cup, and was a player admired by Ten Hag and also shared the same representation at Dutch agency SEG.
United chief executive Richard Arnold has told investors on record that the club is committed to financial fair play under Premier League and Uefa rules, making the pledge as the club announced losses for a second year running consecutive
Ronaldo’s departure has eased the wage bill which reached £384m last season despite missing out on a place in the Champions League. United have also paid £24.7m following the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and following Ralf Rangnick’s brief spell in charge before Ten Hag took over.
United have traditionally not been big spenders in January, which is likely to continue, but Ten Hag still sees a dearth of numbers in attack. In 2020, they took Odion Ighalo from Shanghai Shenhua on loan.