Manchester United will have identified Robert Lewandowski as a potential replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo, journalist Pete O'Rourke has said.

The lowdown

Ronaldo has informed the club that he wants to leave this summer, just a year after returning to Old Trafford from Juventus. According to Sky Sports, the Red Devils are willing to entertain offers for the Portuguese legend.

Similarly, Lewandowski wants out of Bayern Munich, telling the press in May that he is 'certain' his 'story with Bayern is over'.

The player has agreed personal terms with Barcelona, who have submitted a €40m (£33.9m) offer (via The Athletic), but there's still hope for United if they can submit a higher offer and earn Bayern's assent.

The latest

Speaking to GiveMeSport, O'Rourke explained that the 33-year-old would be a very low-risk replacement for Ronaldo if the latter leaves Old Trafford, and he believes that the Polish forward features on Erik ten Hag's shortlist.

O'Rourke said: "If you’re looking at someone to replace Ronaldo, you're looking at someone who can guarantee you goals and Lewandowski is as good as you can get for that with his goalscoring record over the years for Bayern Munich, so I'm sure he's someone Manchester United have got on their list as a contingency plan if they lose Ronaldo."

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The verdict

Simply put, Lewandowski is one of the greatest strikers of his generation. He has scored a whopping 509 goals in 676 career games, including 344 in 375 appearances for Bayern (via Transfermarkt).

His individual accolades include The Best Men's Player Award in 2021 and four Guinness World Records for his five goals in nine minutes against Wolfsburg in 2015.

The player actually came close to joining United in 2012, as he revealed in an interview in 2020: "After my second year in Dortmund, I had a conversation with Sir Alex Ferguson.

"I was very interested, I can even say I was ready but Dortmund didn't want to let me go. It didn't upset me more than that because things were going well with Borussia."

The move could now be back on the cards as United consider a short-term but potentially highly effective solution to their Ronaldo problem.