When Erik ten Hag took over as Manchester United’s new manager, the priorities were to improve a leaky defense and add steel and cunning to the center of the park.
And while the main flaws were corrected in the summer, new problems have arisen during the course of the season, the most important of which was the acrimonious departure of last season’s top scorer, Cristiano Ronaldo.
With both Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial not exactly showering themselves with glory in that crucial position, the Dutchman has publicly admitted that the club needs to bring in an elite centre-forward.
United’s difficult striker hunt
Not surprisingly, quite a few names have been linked to a move to Old Trafford, the most mentioned being Cody Gakpo, Goncalo Ramos, Rafael Leao, Joao Felix and Memphis Depay.
Before the World Cup, some of them would have made sense given their relatively modest ratings, but almost all of the players mentioned had a brilliant tournament.
And that has led to skyrocketing prices and with United’s current financial problems, it doesn’t seem likely the club can afford to back the manager in January.
One surprising name to emerge from yesterday’s reports was Álvaro Morata of Atlético Madrid. He was on fire for Spain during the World Cup despite not getting many minutes.
He finished the competition with three goals and one assist in four games despite starting just once. And he has also been a star of his club in La Liga.
As Manchester United accept the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo this winter, they are likely to look for another striker in January.
Álvaro Morata is one of the names that has been mentioned. pic.twitter.com/yzfiKHJlqk
– Football Spain (@footballespana_) December 15, 2022
Morata has scored five goals and one assist in 14 games with the Madrid team and has even managed to leave United’s goal, Félix, out of the starting eleven.
However, according to transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano, United enjoy a fantastic relationship with Atlético and they have no intention of going after Morata from now on.
Morata does not leave in January
“Atlético de Madrid and Manchester United have an excellent relationship, but Álvaro Morata is not something that is being discussed at the moment, despite the reports.
“I think he has a good chance of staying at Atleti until the end of the season, but we’ll see if that changes in the coming weeks,” Romano said in his exclusive CaughtOffside Substack column.
During José Mourinho’s reign, Morata was heavily linked with a move to the Red Devils only for it to end up at Chelsea where he struggled for form and consistency.
