Manchester United ended the summer window without bringing in a new forward, even though it has since been reported that some players inside the squad felt a striker would have been a sensible addition.<\/p>\n
The club\u2019s recruitment activity did reshape other areas. Carrick now has five midfielders available for two positions, with Kobbie Mainoo and academy graduate Tyler Fletcher among them. In goal, United altered the department by sending Altay Bay\u0131nd\u0131r out on loan and adding Karl Darlow as experienced cover for Senne Lammens.<\/p>\n
At left back, there was no arrival. Lewis Hall was described as not for sale by Newcastle United, and no other short-term option was seen as workable. A new striker, meanwhile, seemed to sit low on the list of priorities despite brief links with Jean-Philippe Mateta and others.<\/p>\n
The issue has become more noticeable because Benjamin \u0160e\u0161ko is still working his way back to full fitness after an injury suffered in early May. So far this season, Matheus Cunha has started both Premier League matches in the No. 9 role. According to The Athletic, unnamed members of the squad wanted another striker because it would have allowed Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo to operate more in their best positions.<\/p>\n
Mbeumo remains United\u2019s right-sided starter, with Amad Diallo providing cover and competition. Cunha, who spent much of last season on the left and is generally viewed as an inside forward or No. 10, faces different complications. Bruno Fernandes owns the No. 10 role, while Marcus Rashford\u2019s return has increased the competition on the flank. Patrick Dorgu also offers an alternative on the left.<\/p>\n
With \u0160e\u0161ko not yet fully settled and the Champions League adding to the demands on the squad, the No. 9 role looks like Cunha\u2019s most plausible route. He has already led the line for Brazil, starting four of five World Cup matches in the summer as a centre forward, wearing the No. 9 shirt and scoring three goals.<\/p>\n
Joshua Zirkzee remains at the club after Juventus signed Nick Woltemade from Newcastle, while Everton\u2019s late interest was prevented by the deadline. The window has now closed, although free agents can still be signed, subject to registration rules. Any late arrival would not be eligible for Europe until the next registration window before the knockout rounds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
United left the window without a striker, despite internal belief that one could have helped the attack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19059,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2019,2028],"tags":[1047],"class_list":["post-19060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-united-news","category-manchester-united-transfer-news","tag-champions-league"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}