OLE Gunnar Solskjaer always had a busy summer ahead for Manchester United but the added surprise he may have to replace both Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku has made his job even tougher.
While the Pogba saga rumbles on, there are clear moves with Lukaku. Man United have already met with Inter officials and an official first bid has been lodged, so there is every chance Lukaku will be leaving United.
That would leave Solskjaer with Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Alexis Sanchez and the young Mason Greenwood as United’s attacking options. That isn’t enough, and Sanchez may even follow Lukaku out of the door, so United need to look at reinforcements. With that in mind, who could replace Lukaku?
My first realistic option would be Mauro Icardi of Inter Milan. Swap deals don’t happen all too often but if Lukaku does join Inter, why wouldn’t we go after Icardi in return? He’s one of the best finishers in Europe. Sure, there are question marks about his attitude but when you look at his goal record and ability, the positives outweigh the negatives. As for the poor attitude, it didn’t stop United signing Eric Cantona and look what happened with him. Solskjaer can manage Icardi and when he’s banging in 25 goals, nobody would be talking about his attitude then that’s for sure.
If Icardi is, well, off the cards, then United should be following up with their interest in Wissam Ben Yedder of Sevilla. I think he’s a class act and United fans saw it first hand when he slotted home against us in the Champions League in *that* game at Old Trafford under Jose Mourinho. A fast, skilful, technical and clinical striker, Ben Yedder would bring some much needed flair into what is currently a predictable and uninspiring attack. With a low centre of gravity, being the diminutive striker he is, Ben Yedder would be far better suited than Lukaku to the faster, technical game that Solskjaer wants his United team to play. He’d be a very smart signing.
That’s an option from Italy and Spain, so here’s one from France – Moussa Dembele from Lyon. For me, he’s got the potential to become the centre-forward Lukaku never developed into and somebody who would fit the mould of exactly what Solskjaer wants in a striker.
At 22, Dembele has bags of experience already with his time at Fulham, Celtic and Lyon. He’s already racked up nearly 200 appearances and 90 goals and that’s all by 22. He’s still raw and rough round the edges and that’s what Solskjaer is looking for – players who can be polished into diamonds.
Dembele is comfortable with the ball at his feet, has an electric turn of pace and is lethal in front of goal. He’s the sort of striker who wouldn’t sit up top in an isolated position, he’s dynamic enough to be involved in the build-up and clinical enough to finish the chance at the end of it. I think he’d be a top class striker in the Premier League at the right time and maybe that time is this summer at United.
Dembele to sign for Man United – 4/1
The difficulty with Dembele would be around getting Lyon to sell him after they’ve already let Ferland Mendy and Ndombele leave already this summer, but as is always the case, every player has their price and United have the funds.
This summer is the beginning of Solskjaer’s rebuild at United and the first two pieces of the puzzle are Dan James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka. There’s every chance that third piece could be the replacement for Lukaku and if it is any of these three players then I think United have got themselves a great upgrade.
Lukaku to sign for Inter Milan this summer – 33/100
