Dwight Yorke reveals which striker Man United should sign this summer | OneFootball

It’s no secret Manchester United have struggled in front of goal this season.

Erik ten Hag’s side are the lowest scoring side in the top ten of the Premier League, with only six teams in the entire division having produced fewer goals than United.

Despite being level on points with Newcastle, the Tyneside club have scored 22 more times, while local rivals Manchester City are 29 goals better off. They have even scored the same amount as newly-promoted Luton Town, whose club record signing cost as much as United pay Marcus Rashford in four months of wages.

Up until last weekend’s match against Bournemouth, the Red Devils’ top scorer in the league was Scott McTominay, with seven goals to his name. No other statistic is needed to encapsulate United’s struggles than that.

Understandably, therefore, a new number nine is a priority for the club this summer. And, in an interview courtesy of TvSportsGuide, Dwight Yorke spoke exclusively to The Peoples Person about exactly which player United should target for this position.

Yorke describes a productive striker as something “we are lacking in”, revealing United need “experience” and someone “who can score goals” if they are to improve next season. When pressed on who exactly should this signing should be, the former United striker believes there is only one player who fits the bill – Victor Osimhen.

“I would go for Osimhen,” Yorke states, revealing the Napoli striker is the “only person I can think of who could come in and and really elevate us to where we should be.”

While Osimhen has suffered something of a dip this year compared to the dizzying highs of last season, the Nigerian has still produced 15 goals and 4 assists in 28 games for the Italian side.

The Peoples Person suggested Ivan Toney as a counterpoint to Osimhen, given his age and potential transfer fee may be more suited to United’s likely budget, but Yorke disagreed. “I don’t think he is a United player. I’m not saying he’s not a good player…but I don’t think he’s a United player. I don’t think Toney fits United’s system.”

Instead, the former Aston Villa man offers the current Villans striker as a better option should United seek to recruit from within the Premier League. “I would rather take a chance with Ollie Watkins. He’s lively, he runs down the channel, his movement is much better. Toney is okay, but he’s not that mobile,” Yorke contends.

With 19 goals and 12 assists in the Premier League this season, Watkins is having a fantastic year as he helps drive Villa towards Champions League qualification. No player in England’s top division has produced more goal contributions than the 28-year-old striker.

And there would even be a parallel between Yorke and Watkins were the Englishman to switch to United from Villa at this stage of his career – something Yorke believes he “should take encouragement from” given the success Yorke enjoyed following the same move in 1998.

“[Watkins] is coming off his best season in the Premier League. If he has an outstanding Euros, that might be when United try to get him,” the former United striker states.

Interestingly, Yorke believes strikers are a “dying breed” at present, with not the greatest selection across Europe compared to five years ago, when there would have been a choice of “seven or eight top number nines” to target.

The 52-year-old player-turned-coach further rues United’s decision not to try for Harry Kane given the success the England captain has enjoyed at Bayern Munich this season: “…the opportunity of having Harry Kane last year, which we should have gone for but [it] didn’t happen.”

This scarcity of world class strikers is likely what drove the exorbitant price tag for Rasmus Hojlund – signed for £72 million from Atalanta, despite only one season of experience in a top European league.

Yorke reveals he had “never heard of [Hojlund] before, until he came to United,” believing he is still firmly in the “learning curve” stage, rather than the “ready made striker who can score twenty plus goals” United are used to leading their line. “It will take him a little while before he sort of hits that level,” Yorke concludes.

Without question, a new striker would help relieve the burden currently on the young Dane’s shoulders and be a massive boost to a team desperately short on goals. Whether that player is Osimhen, Watkins, or Toney may simply boil down to how much money United are able to spend this summer, although the current executive branch at Old Trafford would undoubtedly be overjoyed to sign another Dwight Yorke if possible.

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