Manchester United have 'already been in contact' with RB Leipzig over a deal for forward Brian Brobbey, according to ESPN's Rob Dawson

The lowdown

The Red Devils may need another centre-forward option after Edinson Cavani left the club and Cristiano Ronaldo expressed his desire to follow him out the door.

With Anthony Martial also keen to leave Manchester, Marcus Rashford may be left as the only available striker at Old Trafford.

Brobbey came through the youth ranks at Ajax before joining RB Leipzig on a free transfer in July 2021. In January, Erik ten Hag brought him back to Amsterdam on loan for the second half of the campaign.

The latest

According to ESPN, 'sources have' informed them that United are interested in Brobbey and have already initiated dialogue with RB Leipzig.

'There is hope' that the two sides can shake hands on a fee of around €20m, which equates to £16.9m.

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The verdict

This pursuit continues an early trend of the Ten Hag reign, with the new United manager pursuing players with whom he's already worked - Frenkie de Jong, Lisandro Martinez and now Brobbey.

The 20-year-old impressed at the Johann Cruyff ArenA last season, scoring seven goals in 11 league appearances.

Those numbers are even more impressive when you consider that he only started 396 top-flight minutes. That works out as one goal every 56.6 minutes, or one every 0.63 matches.

With no goals in the top five European leagues up to this point, Brobbey probably isn't ready to be United's starting striker just yet.

However, there's certainly an argument to be made that the Red Devils need more than one new face in that department, and the young Dutchman could be a smart prospective long-term addition.