After kicking off their Premier League Summer Series campaign with a 2-1 win over West Ham, Manchester United have now reportedly joined the race to sign a big-money striker.
Fernandes stars as Man Utd continue pre-season tour
Whilst they’ve so far welcomed just two marquee reinforcements in the form of Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, Manchester United’s preparation is going well. The Red Devils have so far squared off against Premier League rivals Leeds United and West Ham in Sweden and America without suffering defeat.
Getting the Premier League Summer Series underway in style, Ruben Amorim’s side edged past West Ham courtesy of usual suspect Bruno Fernandes, who – as ever – looks ready for the new campaign.
Although it was his captain who stole plenty of the headlines, Amorim had plenty of praise for new arrival Cunha as well as Manuel Ugarte and Kobbie Mainoo following victory over the Hammers in pre-season.
The United boss told reporters: “Matheus Cunha is that kind of player that can help us, he can help us a lot because he can run with the ball and that is something that can change the game. We missed that last year.
“In the first half, Kobbie [Mainoo] and Manu [Ugarte] were really good. I’m not going to talk about the second team because it’s really hard for 11 [10] players to go to the pitch, you know, a lot of young kids. But I really like the team. Of course, you have to look at the game and you have to improve things.”
Even after a decent start to pre-season, however, there’s still improvements to be made and the addition of one particular forward would complete United’s attacking rebuild once and for all.
Man Utd battling Tottenham to sign Mitrovic
According to Caught Offside, Manchester United are now battling to sign Aleksandar Mitrovic from Al-Hilal alongside Tottenham Hotspur this summer. The two Premier League rivals have set their sights on the former Newcastle United and Fulham man, who has only continued his goalscoring exploits in Saudi Arabia.
Whilst Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund struggled in front of goal last season, Mitrovic found the back of the net a staggering 28 times. And if there were any concerns that he wouldn’t be able to replicate similar numbers in the Premier League, then his 14-goal haul in his final season at Fulham should help to ease those worries.
What’s more, those at Old Trafford have seen the quality that the Serbian possesses for themselves when he scored in a visit to Manchester United in Fulham’s 3-1 FA Cup defeat in that same final season.
Alas, the deal won’t be cheap. Even if Man United can negotiate a lower price with Al-Hilal, they’ll still need to find a way past Mitrovic’s reported £22m-a-year salary which would make him their highest earner.
Man Utd prioritising deal for £212k-a-week star who PSG have decided to sell
He would be a major upgrade.
ByTom Cunningham
Ask Fulham boss Marco Silva whether that price would prove worthwhile, however, and his answer will be a resounding yes. The Portuguese coach told reporters during Mitrovic’s time at Craven Cottage: “The numbers of Mitrovic are unbelievable, they are outstanding. Since I arrived in this football club, in 57 games he scored 52 goals. It is an unbelievable number for a striker.”