Four Manchester United targets have been selected for this summer’s fast approaching transfer window. After a lack of activity in 2020, the transfer market is likely to pick up this year, with many big moves rumoured. Plenty of these surround United, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer keen to continue rebuilding after his side suffered an agonising 11-10 penalty shootout loss in Wednesday’s Europa League final against Villarreal. This heartbreak may drive the Red Devils’ recruitment this summer, with four big names on their shortlist, as reported by the Guardian.
Decisions Made on Manchester United Targets This Summer
The Names on the List
United appear to be eyeing up moves for Jadon Sancho, Declan Rice, Harry Kane, and Pau Torres this summer, all of whom would prove costly signings.
Sancho was constantly linked with the Manchester side last summer, but they were unwilling to meet Borussia Dortmund’s €120 million valuation of the young Englishman. His price looks to have dropped this time around, though, which may open the door for United, the Theatre of Dreams looking destined to be Sancho’s home at some point in his career.
United tend to find difficulty in attacking down the right-hand side of the pitch. Mason Greenwood regularly starts there, but instinctively favouring a position in the middle of the front line, he is not the natural winger that Solskjaer so desperately needs. Their lack of a right-winger is further accentuated by starting right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s rather defensive skillset. While he is arguably the best tackler in football, the former Crystal Palace man is not so strong going forwards and struggles to make a substantial impact in the final third.
Sancho would be an absolutely vital signing for Solskjaer, and this could be the perfect summer to make the deal happen.
The second of three English names on the list, Declan Rice would fill another role with which United have struggled of late. An ageing Nemanja Matic not having been of starting quality over the past two or three seasons, the Red Devils have lacked a defensive midfielder, and have hence been restricted to the rather negative double pivot of Scott McTominay and Fred.
Should Rice be signed from an overachieving West Ham United, he would fill this void, and would allow Paul Pogba, if he stays at Old Trafford this summer, to have much more freedom when playing in central midfield. Such a signing would also relieve McTominay and Fred of their weekly starting duties, and, while they are useful squad options, neither are world-class.
Third on this shortlist is Harry Kane. He is likely to cost the most of United’s four targets and is the one for whom they would face the most competition. But he would be worth it.
A Premier League proven striker, Kane is categorically world-class and would give the Red Devils’ attack the cutting edge it has been crying out for since Romelu Lukaku left in 2019. This summer, it looks more likely than ever that the 27-year-old will look to leave his boyhood club Tottenham Hotspur after they failed to win a trophy in yet another disappointing season. With United’s progress on an upwards trend, he may see Old Trafford as the next step in his career.
The fourth, and only foreign, player on the reported list, Pau Torres, would provide a massive boost to Manchester United’s defence, which has come under much criticism recently. Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire have formed a largely stable central defensive partnership over the last two years, but it certainly has its weaknesses, and without Maguire they look rocky.
Signing someone of quality to play alongside the former Leicester City defender could transform United’s performance next season, as seen with Ruben Dias at Manchester City, and Torres could be the player to fit that bill. He has been a mainstay in Villarreal’s defence since 2019 and will have impressed United’s coaching staff with his superb performance in the Europa League final. The Manchester side will now look to sign him during the summer window, alongside the three other targets they have selected.
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