Transfer expert reveals Man Utd plan to buy ‘two forwards’ with ‘big signing’ in the offing
Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe will sanction the purchase of two new forwards in the summer transfer window, according to reports.
The British billionaire completed a deal to buy 27.7 per cent of the Red Devils earlier this year with Ratcliffe set to take over football operations as part of the agreement.
Man Utd want to bring in two forwards in the summer
Ratcliffe quickly appointed Omar Berrada, who will join at the end of the season, as the new CEO from arch-rivals Man City, while he is hoping to agree compensation with Newcastle to bring Dan Ashworth in as sporting director.
INEOS and Ratcliffe are determined to squeeze value out of their money after a decade of Man Utd spending transfer fees badly with Paul Pogba, Antony, Harry Maguire and Mason Mount good examples of disappointing big-money signings.
Rasmus Hojlund and Marcus Rashford have been in better form in the new year but both struggled to score Premier League goals earlier in the season, while Antony is yet to contribute a Premier League goal or assist this term.
19-year-old Alejandro Garnacho has contributed seven goals and three assists but La Liga and Serie A insider Matteo Moretto insists that Man Utd are looking to bring in “two forwards”.
When addressing rumours that Real Madrid striker Joselu could move to Man Utd, Moretto wrote in his Caught Offside column: “I can’t speak to the those reports, but I can tell you that Manchester United are looking for two forwards in the summer.
“One of high level, a big signing, and another that is not very expensive (less than €40m) but potentially a younger forward, and someone to complete their attacking options. That’s what I know so far. Regarding Real Madrid’s options, Endrick Felipe won’t leave Real Madrid on loan in the summer.”
Man Utd could not follow up their impressive 4-3 victory over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals with a good performance against Brentford as they drew 1-1 on Saturday.
The Red Devils allowed the Bees to have over 30 shots at their goal in a performance which has worried former Man Utd defender Gary Neville.
Speaking on his Sky Sports podcast, Neville said: “I watched them last night and suppose like everyone else couldn’t believe really what I was watching.
“I thought that they would put a bit of pressure on Tottenham and [Aston] Villa on the run-in, it’s actually really difficult to play that badly.”
Gary Neville: It was a horrible performance, it really was
Neville added: “Honestly, it really is you know.
“I can’t remember any point in the game… usually, whatever team you play against, if you’re a top team, the other team will have five or ten minutes of play or of domination.
“Manchester United, I can’t think of any point in that game, maybe the first few minutes, but I can’t think of any point in that game where they did anything well at all.
“It was a horrible performance, it really was, to the point where by when Mason Mount scored, I don’t know, I think Manchester United fans, we may have had to have started a petition maybe to give Brentford two points back or something.
“It was absolute robbery but then Brentford score. I can’t even explain that performance, I have no idea where it comes from, very worrying that you can go to that level of low.
“You know you can play badly in football, you know you can have players missing, you know you can miss chances, you know that sometimes you don’t feel quite right. But that was a dismal, dismal effort in an attempt to play football.”
