Manchester United’s hunt for a new striker this summer has been a who’s who of top strikers across Europe.
It wouldn’t take much for a new striker to outperform Rasmus Hojlund’s outings during the 2024/25 season for Manchester United, which saw him score just 10 times.
Earlier this summer, United had set sights on Liam Delap from Ipswich Town as his £30m release clause looked like excellent value. However, Delap chose Chelsea for Champions League football, causing the club to look elsewhere.
Following this, it looked as though United were targeting a move for Viktor Gyokeres, however the Sporting CP star also turned out to not be attainable. United have missed out on Gyokeres with Arsenal set to sign him imminently.
Hugo Ekitike is another player United have missed out on as Liverpool have signed the French talent for a whopping £79m, which leaves United with limited options up top.
But these options could become even slimmer.
Photo by Harriet Massey/Newcastle United via Getty ImagesAlexander Isak will not be joining Manchester United this summer but may impact Ineos
The striker market has been huge this summer and not only around United, but much of the Premier League. Now, on Thursday, another shockwave was sent through the league as Alexander Isak is now forcing an exit from Newcastle.
This comes after a summer of links with Liverpool prior to the Reds signing Ekitike, however, TBR Football has reported Liverpool are willing to spend £150m on Isak, which is ridiculous.
Now, United in Focus transfer correspondent Graeme Bailey has told us where Manchester United could potentially be impacted by the noise around Isak.
“Isak is ‘exploring his options’ does that include Manchester United…unfortunately not, but lets not rule out the ramifications for United here.
“Newcastle are likely going to need a replacement and that could be a Benjamin Sesko, Ollie Watkins or Nicolas Jackson – United will be a bit worried about this new possible wrinkle in their plans.”
United are thought to be pushing for Watkins this summer, having identified him as a real option to bolster the attack, but Newcastle could complicate this.
The same could be said of United’s interest in Sesko and also Jackson, which could mean Ineos must move quickly.
Ineos might end up forced into same situation as Bryan Mbeumo transfer
United will be concerned about the prospect of Newcastle receiving a national record transfer fee for Isak as it could give the North East side incredibly deep pockets to replace him, with the same targets list as Ineos.
Newcastle would be able to outbid United for any striker target mentioned, while selling clubs would have the knowledge of Eddie Howe’s side having a transfer kitty bolstered by £150m or so.
This could force United to either overpay or move onto options further down the list. However, it could mean United move similarly to how a deal was reached for Bryan Mbeumo.
Newcastle bid Mbeumo’s teammate Yoane Wissa last week, with Brentford only willing to sell one of the two. This spurred United to agree a deal for Mbeumo, and the deal was wrapped up the following day.
That could happen again with Newcastle playing a big role in pushing forward United’s transfer business.
Ineos can avoid that by moving quickly and decisively, but the chances of this happening right now appear low.