{"id":712084,"date":"2026-07-26T14:18:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T14:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/712084\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T14:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T14:18:12","slug":"man-united-can-pull-off-transfer-masterstroke-by-reviving-much-criticised-striker-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/712084\/","title":{"rendered":"Man United can pull off transfer masterstroke by reviving much criticised striker plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Manchester United have focused on midfield signings so far this summer but their forward line will soon be under the microscope\"Michael<\/p>\n

Michael Carrick has placed his faith in Benjamin Sesko at Manchester United(Image: Mark Cosgrove\/News Images\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Manchester United supporters have yet to see Benjamin Sesko in action this summer. Two games into pre-season, the Slovenian striker has been putting in the work at Carrington as he continues his recovery from injury. Sesko’s first campaign in England came to an abrupt halt when he picked up a shin issue against Liverpool.<\/p>\n

This week, United shared pictures of Sesko<\/a> going through individual training ground drills as his teammates prepared to fly to Norway. There is hope that Sesko will at least be fit enough to travel to Stockholm on Friday for United’s<\/a> next pre-season fixture against Atletico Madrid.<\/p>\n

In his absence, the forward line has been led by Joshua Zirkzee<\/a>. His future at Old Trafford is uncertain though. Zirkzee is not pushing to leave United but interest is starting to build back in Italy for him<\/a>. Even if the 25-year-old was to remain at United, a better back-up for Sesko is required next season.<\/p>\n

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Zirkzee scored an excellent goal against Rosenborg on Friday. But we have seen many times in the Premier League that he struggles as a centre-forward. Zirkzee has done well as a No.10 before but with Bruno Fernandes<\/a> the clear first choice, and the likes of Mason Mount, Matheus Cunha and Shea Lacey available for cover, the Dutchman is not needed for that role either.<\/p>\n

If United are set on signing a striker, regardless of whether Zirkzee stays or not, that player’s profile is unclear. The Reds<\/a> are committed to Sesko as their first choice centre-forward so any player in the same age bracket as him is off the table.<\/p>\n

Chido Obi<\/a> has been mentioned as a back-up for Sesko<\/a> this season. But if he was to make the step up to the first-team, you would imagine he would be third choice, at the moment. He needs to gain Premier League experience in a junior role, before he can be relied on to change the game from the bench.<\/p>\n

So that leaves just one option remaining – risk revisiting a much criticised plan. In recent years, United were mocked for signing veteran strikers to boost their attack. Moves for Edinson Cavani, Radamel Falcao<\/a> and Odion Ighalo<\/a>, all had their fair share of critics. A lot of that was justified too.<\/p>\n

Take Ighalo for instance. When he arrived on loan it was clear he was not the same player who scored goals for fun for Watford. He also joined when Anthony Martial was leading the line. United needed proper competition up top with Martial inconsistent and Ighalo did not cut it.<\/p>\n

\"Odion<\/p>\n

Odion Ighalo’s endured a difficult spell at Manchester United(Image: PA)<\/p>\n

Falcao fit the bill better considering Robin van Persie was still around, as was Wayne Rooney<\/a> – albeit he had begun his transition into midfield by this point. However, the Colombian never suited the Premier League and would enjoy his best years in Spain and France.<\/p>\n

In many ways, Cavani<\/a> was perfect in the 2020\/21 season but the decision to extend his contract was ill-advised. What United need now is a short-term fix. Someone who can fill in when needed but is not expected to stick around for the long haul.<\/p>\n

Robert Lewandowski could have been the man after he chose to leave Barcelona. However, he has since moved to MLS club Chicago Fire, ruling out that potential solution.<\/p>\n

Ollie Watkins has been linked this week and that’s not a bad suggestion. He is only 30 though and made 37 Premier League appearances for Aston Villa last season. It is not guaranteed he would welcome a back-up role either. But with four competitions, Watkins could get a healthy chunk of minutes.<\/p>\n

There’s not a vast amount of experienced strikers available on the market this summer. The last thing United want to do is spend over the odds for an ageing player, meaning that could price out Watkins.<\/p>\n

But while it hasn’t always worked for them, revisiting this strategy this summer could be exactly what they need to do. Both Sesko and Obi would benefit from an older head who they can learn from.<\/p>\n

United have that experience in all other areas of the pitch. Now they must add it to the forward line too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester United have focused on midfield signings so far this summer but their forward line will soon be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":712085,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3645,235886,59,784,1441,1465,235888,235887,101,2297,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-712084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-benjamin-sesko","tag-edinson-cavani","tag-gb","tag-joshua-zirkzee","tag-manchester-united-fc","tag-manchester-united-transfer-news","tag-odion-ighalo","tag-radamel-falcao","tag-sports","tag-summer-transfer-window","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712084","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=712084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/712085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}