If you ask Manchester United fans in the Football Transfer Tavern what their answer is to seemingly every question in the world right now, they will simply respond ‘Anthony Martial’.
Having scored four goals in just his four opening games for the Red Devils, the £36 million signing from Monaco has wasted no time at all in starting to pay back that fee, shouldering all the responsibility in front of goal while wowing the United supporters with his fine dribbling skills and clinical finishing nature.
Make no mistake; eyebrows were raised when United made Martial the most expensive teenager of all-time on deadline day but it is most certainly a case of so far, so good for the French international and if he can carry on putting the ball into the back of the net, football fans will soon forget about the whopping fee Ed Woodward paid for him.
With his latest goal coming last night in United’s comfortable 3-0 victory over Ipswich Town in the Capital Oner Cup, tougher tests will be ahead for Martial although he’s already overcome a significant hurdle having scored against United’s arch-rivals Liverpool in his first ever appearance for the club.
The fact Martial is scoring regularly is good because Wayne Rooney has endured a slow start to the 2015/16 campaign and outside that duo, Louis van Gaal has left himself very short of attackers having disposed of Robin van Persie, Radamel Falcao and Javier Hernandez in the summer.
While James Wilson is a young prospect, he isn’t expected to make that great an impact this term so van Gaal might be in the market for another striker come January.
With this in mind, we’ve devised a list of five Premier League hitmen who could take United’s fancy come the re-opening of the transfer window in January.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 Premier League strikers that Manchester United should snap up in January.
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Saido Berahino
While it’s of course true that West Bromwich Albion dug incredibly deep to keep Saido Berahino at The Hawthorns this summer when a deadline day switch to Tottenham was overruled, perhaps they may be willing to finally cash in on him come January?
All will depend on whether the dependable Tony Pulis can steer the Baggies well clear of relegation by then but the fact he may have got another five months out of Berahino in staying when he might not have may convince the Baggies hierarchy to take top dollar for him in a few months’ time.
It was reported after deadline day that Tottenham were adamant they had a £25 million straight cash offer rejected by Albion and on the face of it, you’d imagine that the West Midlands club would still be looking to recoup around that figure come January.
Manchester United have proved they have deep pockets in recent times and what’s more, Berahino has already proved he can score against the big hitters in this division, United included, so surely he would make for an ideal long-term signing just like Anthony Martial?
Riyad Mahrez
Okay we admit it, we’re cheating on this one because everybody knows Riyad Mahrez is a winger by trade but given the fact he is the Premier League’s joint top goalscorer with five strikes this term, his return has been representative of a top striker.
Given the fact United took a loss on Angel Di Maria in the summer while failing to replace the Argentine with Chelsea nipping in for Pedro ahead of the Red Devils, you could say that Louis van Gaal may need to fill this position with Adnan Januzaj having been shipped off on loan to Borussia Dortmund to boot.
While Anthony Martial can play on the flanks, he has proved he’s far more adept as a number nine so far in his fledgling career so adding somebody who is an out-and-out winger like Mahrez may not be such a bad idea.
With Juan Mata often deployed on the right flank so far this season, the Spaniard always has a tendency to duck inside but in Mahrez, the Algerian international is somebody who would get chalk on their boots while making the pitch wide.
With the player seemingly getting better by the week, the problem for United however is that Leicester City may be adding more zero’s to his transfer fee at the same time!
Diafra Sakho
One of the more left-field transfer rumours of the summer was the one from the Daily Mail who claimed Manchester United were looking at a shock £15 million deal for West Ham United’s Diafra Sakho.
With United having wasted their time looking at the likes of Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller, an alternative option was required although Red Devils supporters scoffed that Sakho wasn’t nowhere near the class of player they needed.
While he is of course not a world class player by any stretch of the imagination, we’ve seen with Anthony Martial that you don’t necessarily have to be the biggest name to succeed in front of goal for United and in 25-year-old Sakho, he is a player who has proved he is capable of scoring against the Premier League’s big guns.
West Ham United won’t want him going anywhere of course but if United were to ramp up the pressure with a big money bid in January, the East London side may be powerless.
Ayoze Perez
Newcastle United’s plight has been well documented, firstly under John Carver last term and now this under Steve McClaren but one small ray of sunshine in small parts has been the performances of Ayoze Perez who became a first team fixture for the Magpies last term far sooner than was originally anticipated.
A bargain signing from Tenerife, Ayoze was one of the surprise packages in the Premier League last term and despite the Magpies’ woeful performances, Perez has always looked positive and somebody who could and perhaps should be playing for a much more polished outfit.
As mentioned on our Riyad Mahrez slide, United parted with Angel Di Maria in the summer and didn’t really replace him so somebody like Ayoze – who can fill in on the flanks – could be a viable replacement while also being able to be deployed as the centre forward, much like Anthony Martial.
Bafetimbi Gomis
Bafetimbi Gomis has started the 2015/16 Premier League season like a train, scoring four times in the Swans’ opening six matches and we’ve grown oh so used to his panther goalscoring celebration in the process.
Garry Monk has now installed the French international as the main man up top in his starting eleven following Wilfried Bony’s departure to Manchester City and you can see that Gomis is flourishing with this new found responsibility unlike his bit-part role last term.
Not the youngest player any more at 30-years-old, Gomis isn’t as attractive a prospect as he once was as a young player when he was dubbed the ‘new Didier Drogba’ but nevertheless, he’s scoring in the Premier League and wouldn’t be cup tied if United were to swoop for him while progressing to the latter stages of the Champions League.
What’s more, it was reported that Gomis’ release clause only stands at £7 million with United linked with a late swoop in the summer prior to the window closing and the Frenchman staying put.
If the Swans don’t address this situation before January and Gomis is still scoring in the top flight, he could be an attractive bargain option for the likes of United to snap up as a valuable squad player.
