Manchester United fans’ brains in the Football Transfer Tavern are working overtime right now after Louis van Gaal coyly claimed he could be making a “surprise” transfer swoop in the remainder of the summer transfer window.
Having already pulled off a deal for Bayern Munich’s Bastian Schweinsteiger when not anticipated at the start of the summer, van Gaal and United have started to prove again that they’re a force to be reckoned with in the transfer market and one unrecognisable from the short and not so sweet David Moyes era.
Of the areas in which United still need to strengthen this summer, the Red Devils’ attack looks desperately short following the surprise sale of Robin van Persie to Fenerbahce.
Yes, Wayne Rooney is still there of course but in Javier Hernandez and James Wilson, one pretty much is of deadwood status while having been linked with an MLS switch while the other is still very much an up-and-coming talent who may yet earn a loan switch away from Old Trafford.
So you’d imagine that van Gaal’s surprise swoop centres upon a new top class forward being brought into the Theatre of Dreams but with available strikers a rare commodity this summer, it appears the Red Devils have their work cut out in the weeks that remain.
While thinking along these lines, we’ve devised a list of five transfer targets who van Gaal might be wanting to ring up about before the start of the new campaign.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 talented strikers Manchester United should add to their squad this summer.
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Thomas Muller
Impossible; not going to happen; forget about it, claim rival fans around the bar.
On the face of it, it appears a Manchester United swoop for Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller looks a tall order, especially considering Pep Guardiola has already sold Bastian Schweinsteiger to the Red Devils already this summer.
Nevertheless, the Daily Express still claims the German international is right at the top of van Gaal’s wishlist and with the Dutch boss having managed Muller in his time spent in Munich, perhaps this could again prove a valuable connection.
One things for sure; it would take a simply huge bid for Bayern to be tempted into selling Muller but after claiming yet another Bundesliga title last term, you wonder whether players like Muller are keen on discovering a new challenge like the one presented at Manchester United overseas?
Karim Benzema
All of the column inches seem to be devoting Karim Benzema to transfer speculation surrounding Arsenal but surely if the player became available late in the window, Manchester United would be interested in attaining him?
The Sun claimed last week that Arsene Wenger is keen on pursuing a £40 million deal for the French international but with no Real Madrid replacement in sight as yet, we still think a summer transfer for Benzema is touch and go.
There had been claims that Rafael Benitez is keen on deploying Cristiano Ronaldo as a centre forward this term and we saw in the International Champions Cup fixture with Roma that the Portuguese superstar was indeed played in that position.
With Benzema emerging from the bench, this did nothing to cool the transfer speculation but at the moment, we do wonder whether Real will give up another Galactico with no replacement arriving in return.
Harry Kane
At one stage this summer, it looked as if Tottenham’s Harry Kane was going to be at the centre of a £40 million bid from Manchester United but as the weeks have gone on, it looks increasingly likely that he’ll be remaining at White Hart Lane this season.
Striking a simply incredible 36 goals in all competitions last season, Harry Kane surprised everybody and probably himself too, combing excellent movement with a clinical ability in front of goal.
A player who only looks set to get better, there is now a new found level of expectation placed upon Kane’s shoulders but he looks as if he boasts the ability to deal with that.
Tottenham have proved that they’re a selling club in the past and after all, they sold Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov to United but imagine the storm that would surround Daniel Levy cashing in on their prized asset.
Nevertheless, you can’t rule United out of making a huge bid with several weeks yet to go in the window.
Pedro
Of all of the players on this list, Barcelona’s Pedro looks the most likely to be making a summer switch to Old Trafford right now.
With each passing week, it seems as if Angel Di Maria is getting closer and closer to the exit door and a switch to Paris Saint-Germain so it seems plausible that Louis van Gaal is lining up Pedro as his replacement.
Not happy at the Camp Nou at present given the substitutes role he’s become used to following the arrival of Luis Suarez from Liverpool, Pedro will also have to deal with Arda Turan arriving in January 2016 following his capture from Atletico Madrid.
What’s likely is that Pedro would’ve secured a move before then and it seems his future will be decided in a straight fight between United and Chelsea.
He’s not an out and out striker of course but with these players in short supply this summer, perhaps van Gaal will utilise both he and Memphis Depay as false number nines in Wayne Rooney’s absence.
Edinson Cavani
Manchester United fans are almost as sick about the Edinson Cavani rumours as they were about Wesley Sneijder before him!
However, with Paris Saint-Germain so keen on attaining Angel Di Maria this summer, surely there’s some room to negotiate for one of PSG’s stars in return this transfer window?
Both Marquinhos and Edinson Cavani have been interesting United in recent windows so it begs the question, why don’t United look to complete a Di Maria plus cash deal for the likes of Cavani?
It’s highly unlikely that a straight swap deal will be concluded but that said, with Cavani having played on the wing to accommodate Zlatan Ibrahimovic in recent seasons, surely Di Maria would be taking that slot anyway in a front three of Di Maria, Ibrahimovic and Javier Pastore?
