{"id":647771,"date":"2026-06-19T20:37:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T20:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/647771\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T20:37:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T20:37:13","slug":"man-utd-130m-superstar-striker-eyed-amid-five-man-shortlist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/647771\/","title":{"rendered":"Man Utd: \u00a3130m superstar striker eyed amid ‘five-man shortlist’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Manchester United are planning to make a big striker signing this summer, and Victor Osimhen and Robert Lewandowski are among five players on their radar, a report has claimed.<\/p>\n

Man Utd<\/a> have successfully offloaded Rasmus Hojlund, as the Danish centre-forward has joined loan club Napoli permanently for \u00a338million. United also aim to sell Joshua Zirkzee, and any money gained will increase their transfer budget as INEOS plot to snare a new No 9 who can help out Benjamin Sesko.<\/p>\n

United invested a huge \u00a374m on Sesko in August 2025, and he netted 11 goals in 30 appearances during his debut season at Old Trafford.<\/p>\n

However, head coach Michael Carrick wants a new striker to join this summer to provide Sesko with extra competition and cover.<\/p>\n

Ideally, United would like a proven goalscorer who would not stunt Sesko\u2019s long-term development.<\/p>\n

As per CaughtOffside<\/a>, Osimhen, Lewandowski, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Dusan Vlahovic and Eli Junior Kroupi are the five strikers on United\u2019s \u2018shortlist\u2019.<\/p>\n

READ: England star offers Rice reward to Man City and \u2018scarred\u2019 Manchester United<\/a><\/p>\n

Osimhen<\/a> is \u2018viewed as the dream target\u2019, as he is at the peak of his powers and has established himself as one of the best forwards in the world.<\/p>\n

But landing Osimhen would blow a large portion of United\u2019s budget, as Galatasaray want a huge \u20ac150m (\u00a3130m) to sell the Nigerian.<\/p>\n

United are also considering a \u2018surprise\u2019 move for legendary Polish goalscorer Lewandowski, who is a free agent after leaving Barcelona.<\/p>\n

Lewandowski may be 37 years old, but he remains lethal in front of goal when fit.<\/p>\n

Vlahovic, like Lewandowski, will be available on a free transfer this summer, as Juventus have failed to tie him down to a new contract.<\/p>\n

Vlahovic, Kroupi among Man Utd options<\/p>\n

Kroupi is viewed as a potential \u2018long-term investment\u2019 as he is just 19 but has exploded onto the scene at Bournemouth.<\/p>\n

Out of all those options, Mateta seems the best fit if United do not want to impact Sesko\u2019s development.<\/p>\n

Mateta can provide Premier League experience without demanding guaranteed starts, as Osimhen, Lewandowski and Vlahovic would.<\/p>\n

However, INEOS choosing Mateta over Osimhen would disappoint their outspoken former defender, Rio Ferdinand.<\/p>\n

The pundit said in July 2025: \u201cI\u2019m like a broken record. If anyone listens to my podcast, I\u2019ve said\u00a0Osimhen\u00a0for a while now.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a centre-forward, he\u2019s experienced, he knows how to score goals at the top level. I\u2019ve seen today that Galatasaray have put a \u00a350m bid in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, \u00a350m to get a top-class striker, one of the top strikers in the world, is absolute peanuts in today\u2019s market.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be disappointed if he goes to Galatasaray for that type of money when Man United are crying out for a No. 9.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ NEXT: The 20 most expensive defenders ever: Van Hecke knocks John Stones off the list<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester United are planning to make a big striker signing this summer, and Victor Osimhen and Robert Lewandowski…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[1724,209635,218,448,42451,349,50,221,52819,101,56,54,55,3224],"class_list":["post-647771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-dusan-vlahovic","tag-eli-junior-kroupi","tag-football","tag-front-page","tag-jean-philippe-mateta","tag-manchester-united","tag-news","tag-premier-league","tag-robert-lewandowski","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-victor-osimhen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}