Man Utd 'taking gamble' as 'crazy' £25m star wants Old Trafford move | OneFootball

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GiveMeSport

·14 August 2022

Man Utd 'taking gamble' as 'crazy' £25m star wants Old Trafford move

Article image:Man Utd 'taking gamble' as 'crazy' £25m star wants Old Trafford move

Manchester United signing VfB Stuttgart and Austria striker Saša Kalajdžić would be “a bit of a gamble”, according to Dean Jones.

Erik ten Hag’s side have been linked with a move for the Austrian striker this summer, with the 25-year-old said to ‘want’ a move to Old Trafford as per Sky Sports’ Dharmesh Sheth.


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What’s the latest on Kalajdžić?

According to Sky Sports, Kalajdžić is one of a number of strikers on Manchester United’s shortlist this summer, and with the forward entering the final year of his contract at Stuttgart, he is thought to want to make the move to the Premier League side this summer.

The same report also states that current Austria head coach and former Red Devils interim boss Ralf Rangnick has suggested that a move to United would hamper the 15-time Austria international’s progress, despite the player’s desire.

In terms of the Red Devils, the club have now missed out on a number of deals to bring a striker to the club, with former target Benjamin Šeško agreeing to join RB Leipzig from RB Salzburg in 2023, whilst the club called off their interest in fellow Austrian forward Marko Arnautović earlier this month, after the club’s £8m bid for the Bologna striker was rejected.

And Jones believes that the signing of Kalajdžić, who has been described as “crazy” in the air by Marcel Reif, would be surprising, given that he’s not guaranteed to be ready to play a significant part in the squad this season.

What has Jones said about Kalajdžić?

He told GIVEMESPORT: “Kalajdžić, this is probably a little bit of a gamble.

“I mean, Tottenham, were looking at signing him at the start of the year.

“And that was really a thought process of signing a player who’s good, and has got a lot of potential and would eventually become part of their team, but wasn’t quite ready for it.

“So, I’ll be surprised if Man United considered that he was ready to become a serious, significant part of their squad.”

Would Kalajdžić be a good signing for Manchester United?

Whilst Manchester United fans may not have had Kalajdžić at the top of their transfer wish list this summer, the club are desperately scrambling to find a striker, who may potentially have to play a role in the squad if rumoured wantaway striker Cristiano Ronaldo leaves the club this summer.

The former FC Admira Wacker Mödling man scored six goals and provided two assists in 15 appearances for Stuttgart last season according to Transfermarkt, with a significant part of his campaign being hampered by a shoulder injury.

The monstrous 6 foot 7 striker makes great use of his obvious height advantage, and this is shown by the fact that he ranks in the top 7% of forwards across Europe’s top five leagues and European competition for aerial duels won per 90 minutes (5.54) over the last 365 days, according to FBref.

Kalajdžić would certainly be an obscure signing on the face of it for Manchester United, but the club may want to land the striker as quickly as possible, otherwise the club risks missing out on another target.

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