Manchester United’s desperate need for a striker in the January transfer window is an open secret.
The club’s financial situation is dire, with mismanaged owners, the Glazer family, having reached the end of all available credit lines.
As the club is put up for sale, it means there is little to no funding available in this window to get the striker manager Erik ten Hag desperately needs.
However, there’s no reason why money can’t be raised through player sales and there are four obvious options that, based on market value, could raise €85m to cover the cost of that elusive striker.
1. Harry Maguire – €30 million
Maguire appears to have lost his place in the first team and despite a good World Cup which saw him named in the squad of the tournament, he was passed over for the diminutive Luke Shaw in center defense against Nottingham Forest and Wolves. when club football resumed. Approaching his 30th birthday, the captain may be content to restart his career somewhere where regular playing time is guaranteed and from United’s side there would still be plenty of central defenders in Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane, Victor Lindelof, Axel Tuanzebe, Rhys Bennett, Tyler Fredricson, and impromptu experts Shaw and Casemiro.
2. Anthony Elanga – €25 million
Frank Lampard is reportedly interested in bringing Elanga to Goodison Park and it looks like this would be a good move for everyone. The 20-year-old hasn’t made any impact at Old Trafford this season and there is plenty of cover for Rashford and Antony at the wings with the return of Jadon Sancho, Alejandro Garnacho, Facundo Pellistri waiting at the wings and Amad Diallo available to be removed from loan.
3. Donny van de Beek – €20 million
It’s never really happened to Van de Beek at Old Trafford and if old boss Ten Hag can’t find the key, surely it must be time to move on. Of course, there isn’t much coverage for Bruno Fernandes at number 10, but if Van de Beek were to be sold, one possibility would be to replace him with Hannibal Mejbri, who has done well on loan at Birmingham. In Fernandes’ absence, Christian Eriksen could also move up to fill the gap, with another youngster who plays the ball, Zidane Iqbal, taking on a deeper role to replace him.4. Brandon Williams – 10 million euros
Williams has now fully recovered from injury, but it looks unlikely that he will break into Ten Hag’s first team in any of the back-up roles, with Dalot and Wan-Bissaka ahead of him in the pecking order on the right and Luke Shaw. and Tyrell Malacia on the left. The plucky, thoroughbred defender would make an excellent addition to a relegation-threatened team or a Championship playoff contender.
Obviously, the logistical challenge of selling four players and buying one in January would be great, but it’s not impossible.
If something close to 85 million euros could be raised in this way, the door would open to a world of options, with players like Dusan Vlahovic (80 million euros), Rafael Leao (85 million euros), Lautaro Martínez ( 75 million euros), Victor Osimhen (70 million euros), Jonathan David (45 million euros), Tammy Abraham (45 million euros) and Ivan Toney (45 million euros) among the listed forwards in that section.
All market valuations according to transfermarkt.com.
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