Man Utd eye Prem striker who Hargreaves, Butt want them to sign; Vlahovic another option
Man Utd could look to sign Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa as they want a striker to support Benjamin Sesko next season, according to reports.
The Red Devils went on a brilliant run after Michael Carrick replaced Ruben Amorim last season with Man Utd managing a third-placed finish and qualification for the Champions League.
Carrick and the Man Utd recruitment team have identified several positions that they need to improve ahead of next season, with midfield their biggest issue.
Man Utd have already brought in two new midfielders so far this season and they are looking to add one more before the window shuts.
A new left-winger and full-back are also on their priority list, while a new striker is something they are also looking at.
Man Utd are hoping to bring in a more experienced striker to help Sesko next season and The i Paper has revealed that both Aston Villa’s Watkins and free agent Dusan Vlahovic are on their list.
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‘Perfect option’ Danny Welbeck is on the verge of joining Chelsea and the report adds: ‘One potential option that has been mentioned is former Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic, who is a free agent amid interest from Barcelona.
‘Ollie Watkins is another striker United have been monitoring for a while, though Aston Villa are unlikely to sell for anything like the sort of fee the Red Devils would be willing to pay.’
Hargreaves and Butt wanted Watkins at Man Utd last summer
Speaking at the beginning of last season, Owen Hargreaves and Nicky Butt both expressed their wish that Man Utd had signed Watkins last summer instead of Sesko.
When asked if he was impressed by the summer business at Man Utd in 2025, Butt told BetMGM: “I was and I wasn’t.
“I know [Matheus] Cunha has done really well over the last couple of seasons but I would really like an experienced striker.
“I hope I’m wrong but I really hope they aren’t making the same mistakes with [Benjamin] Sesko as they did with Rasmus [Hojlund].
“A young player coming in with no Premier League experience, it just feels like history repeating itself.
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“Honestly, for what it would have cost, I would have gone and brought in someone like Ollie Watkins, someone to help and pull the young strikers out of a bad patch.
“When young players are just coming into the club, when the onus is on them to score goals, if they’re having a few bad games they have to have the safety net of being pulled out of the firing line.
“Ollie Watkins, or someone like that, would be who I would have been looking to bring in.”
Speaking last September, Hargreaves added: “You get Hojlund, who I think is going to be a really good striker, but there’s a lot of pressure, we’ve seen it with Marcus [Rashford] and [Anthony] Martial. They were too young to be dealing with that on their own.
“Then you have that experience with Hojlund where it’s so difficult he has to leave on loan, then you go and buy the same age player in Sesko.
“If you’re going to do it, they’ve got Cunha and Mbeumo, ready-made Premier League players, but then you get a striker who is 22 and not proven at this level.
“If you’ve already done that in that window why wouldn’t you go and get another one, Ollie Watkins or someone of that ilk who is ready. Same thing [with the goalkeeper].”
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