Man Utd in relegation zone: Ranking every Premier League club’s striker options
Manchester United’s dismal striker options got us thinking: do any Premier League clubs have worse No. 9s? The answer is yes, but not many.
We have ranked every club’s striker depth from worst to best, starting with…
20) Southampton (Paul Onoachu, Cameron Archer, Ross Stewart)
Onoachu is a bit of a maverick but Southampton’s attack is one of the infinite reasons why they are bottom of the Premier League and flirting with being even worse than that Derby County team.
19) Leicester City (Jamie Vardy, Patson Daka, Odsonne Edouard, Jordan Ayew, Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Stephy Mavididi)
It is an unfortunate case of quantity over quality at Leicester.
18) Manchester United (Rasmus Hojlund, Joshua Zirkzee, Chido Obi, Kobbie Mainoo)
Hojlund hasn’t scored in what feels like 20 years and Zirkzee is having a torrid time, enabled by the fact nobody – not even Ruben Amorim or Erik ten Hag – knows his best position.
Amorim’s options are so bleak that he started midfielder Mainoo over both of them in a Premier League match against Crystal Palace last month. Mainoo’s link-up play wasn’t too bad but it was a failed experiment and a miserable afternoon for £72million Hojlund and £36million Zirkzee.
The Portuguese’s brutal options up front have also been highlighted by the over-hyping of 17-year-old striker Chido Obi, who has received big praise after doing nothing special against Fulham in the FA Cup. Is Obi the answer to Amorim’s prayers and the man kid to get United up the Premier League table and this ranking.
17) Everton (Beto, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Armando Broja, Chermiti)
Deciding who should be higher of Everton and United was far from straightforward. Ultimately, humour took over because after all, This Is Manchester United Football Club We Are Talking About.
Beto has been on a decent scoring streak recently but his lack of composure against Brentford cost Everton dearly; sometimes players can have too much time.
16) Ipswich Town (Liam Delap, George Hirst, Sammie Szmodics, Conor Chaplin)
Delap has been a revelation up top for Ipswich this season and when they go down, he will surely stay in the top flight. Manchester United could do a lot worse. Hell, so could Arsenal and Chelsea. Manchester City also have a £40million buy-back clause and could well exercise that if Pep Guardiola wants some more firepower and depth behind Erling Haaland.
A fit Szmodics would probably take a game for Man United these days as well. Oh, and Conor Chaplin > Joshua Zirkzee.
15) Fulham (Rodrigo Muniz, Raul Jimenez)
Is this harsh? Probably. The mid-table teams – who are pushing for Europe this season – all have some pretty handy striker options and Fulham lack depth. A couple of other teams only have two options and we reckon Marco Silva has a duo slightly inferior to the clubs in question.
Muniz only has five league goals this season, although he has only started six times, while Jimenez has an impressive nine goals in 21 starts.
14) Bournemouth (Evanilson, Enes Unal, Daniel Jebbison, Dango Ouattara, Antoine Semenyo)
Evanilson aside, the non-natural-striker options of Ouattara and Semenyo are the most appealing at Bournemouth and doing some heavy lifting. Unal is out for the season and did not show much before getting injured – except for a world-class free-kick against West Ham that was enough for Sky to name him player of the match despite being on the pitch for 10 minutes.
13) Crystal Palace (Jean-Philippe Mateta, Eddie Nketiah)
Mateta will likely be out for a while after the gruesome injury he received courtesy of the studs of Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts, so it is time for Nketiah to step up. If you asked Palace fans a week ago if they would be okay with Nketiah starting games ahead of Mateta, they’d have run away crying, now they would deal with that proposition a bit better after the Englishman scored two in the FA Cup on Saturday after netting his first league goal for the Eagles against Aston Villa four days earlier.
12) Brentford (Yoane Wissa, Thiago, Bryan Mbeumo, Kevin Schade)
Brentford and their modern day Barclaysmen have been a joy to watch this season. Wissa and Mbeumo’s scoring form has helped them avoid another relegation scrap as Thomas Frank continues to gain plaudits for the phenomenal job he has done.
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11) Wolves (Jorgen Strand Larsen, Matheus Cunha, Hwang Hee-chan)
Matheus Cunha might be Wolves’ greatest player in Premier League history, but he should do something about that temper of his.
Larsen is a decent option up front but has a lot of improving to do and Hwang seems to be past his best. The striker once described as “the Korean guy” by Pep Guardiola is nowhere near the player we saw score 12 in 29 in 2023/24.
10) Brighton (Danny Welbeck, Joao Pedro, Georginio Rutter)
Welbeck seems to be getting better with age and was reportedly a Manchester United transfer target last summer. His winner against Newcastle United on Sunday showed us why Ten Hag wanted him and why Wayne Rooney thinks Amorim should too. He has always been a willing runner and nuisance but his finishing has improved every year and has become an invaluable member of the Brighton squad.
Rutter is similar to Zirkzee positionally but has an awful lot more quality and is making a decent impact on the south coast after a big-money summer transfer from Leeds United. Pedro is also a player we really like. All three are so good that they have completely hindered Evan Ferguson’s development. Bravo, folks.
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9) Chelsea (Nicolas Jackson, Christopher Nkunku, Marc Guiu)
Enzo Maresca said Nkunku is a striker, yet when Nicolas Jackson got injured, he said Nkunku is not a striker. Which is it, pal?
Well, we reckon the Frenchman is one of those players who is a nine-and-a-half; he is not a 10, nor is he a 9. Regardless of that, he is certainly a striker option and the guy who is leading the line for Chelsea right now. His scoring record at RB Leipzig was outstanding but Nkunku is yet to catch fire in England, while Guiu only has 70 Premier League minutes this season.
Funnily enough, Jackson is at his best on the left but given Maresca’s lack of striker depth, he is usually the team’s focal point. If he can refine his game and become more clinical and composed in the final third, the Blues could have an elite striker at their disposal.
8) Nottingham Forest (Chris Wood, Taiwo Awoniyi)
A year ago, this attack would probably rank Forest in the bottom five. Two years ago, Awoniyi was on the brink of a crucial scoring run to keep the club in the Premier League – he just didn’t know it yet – and Wood had just joined from Newcastle and would score once in seven league matches before suffering a season-ending hamstring injury. A lot has changed since then.
Forest are surprisingly and sensationally third and Wood’s goals are a huge reason why. He has scored 18 league goals from only 10.6 expected goals this season!
7) West Ham (Niclas Fullkrug, Michail Antonio, Jarrod Bowen, Evan Ferguson, Danny Ings, Mohammed Kudus)
There is a slight hint of quantity over quality at West Ham but Jarrod Bowen is obviously brilliant and Evan Ferguson has great potential, while you know what you are going to get from Fullkrug and Antonio – a lot of physicality and a presence up front.
Fullkrug’s injuries are a real concern and are the reason Bowen has played through the middle so much again this season, but we really don’t mind it and neither does Graham Potter.
6) Arsenal (Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli, Mikel Merino)
Only two of these guys are fit and available for Arsenal and one is naturally a winger who only seems to play well coming off the bench and the other is a midfielder who has been forced to play as a makeshift striker, scoring two on his first game up there having come on as a substitute and then started and drawn a blank in the next two fixtures.
There has been a huge debate about Havertz and Arsenal’s need for a striker but the German deserves credit for proving his doubters wrong and scoring a respectable 19 goals from 47 games at centre-forward for the Londoners. Jesus is a bit of an all bark, no bite striker with lots of nice, technical, intricate play, but a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal.
There is no doubt Arsenal should sign a striker this summer but their options are still pretty decent, all things considered.
5) Newcastle United (Alexander Isak, Callum Wilson, William Osula, Anthony Gordon)
Newcastle had to rank above Arsenal considering how desperate Mikel Arteta is to bring Isak to the Emirates. Unfortunately for him (and me), the Swede will cost above £120million.
Isak is world class, irreplaceable and the reason Newcastle are in the top five. The guys behind him are nowhere near that level, though Osula is a promising young player and Gordon is handy anywhere across the front three – when he is not whacking defenders in the head. Wilson is pretty much finished and surely won’t be at St James’ next season.
4) Liverpool (Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Federico Chiesa)
Liverpool might rank high here but they still should be targeting a striker this summer, especially if Darwin is going to be sold.
Arne Slot has preferred Diaz to the Uruguayan and you can’t blame him. Anyway, who needs an elite striker when you have got Mohamed Salah on the right?
3) Aston Villa (Ollie Watkins, Marcus Rashford, Donyell Malen, Leon Bailey)
Rashford has been an excellent addition and one Aston Villa had to make following Jhon Duran’s decision to leave for Al Nassr in January.
Malen is another solid option up front but not good enough to get in Villa’s Champions League squad. That must have gone down well…
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2) Tottenham Hotspur (Dominic Solanke, Heung-min Son, Mathys Tel, Richarlison, Dane Scarlett, Timo Werner)
Keeping these striker options fit has been Spurs’ biggest problem in 2024/25. Richarlison has been a constant sick note since joining the club for over £50million and Solanke has been injured more often than not this season after costing a club-record £60m. Even Werner has not played since January 8.
Ange Postecoglou will hope Tel can pick up the slack and that Son can get back to somewhere near his best.
1) Manchester City (Erling Haaland, Omar Marmoush, Phil Foden)
There is no great striker depth here at Man City but they have the best striker in the world and made a very big January addition in Omar Marmoush, who is naturally a striker but will likely play left-wing at the Etihad.
Phil Foden is also an option for Pep Guardiola and has been used as a false nine on several occasions.
If this ranking tells us anything, it’s that having elite wingers is better than having elite strikers.