‘Everything points to’ £52m PL star’s departure in January after Utd start ‘fighting’ for his signature

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·27 November 2024

‘Everything points to’ £52m PL star’s departure in January after Utd start ‘fighting’ for his signature

As has been the case for the last two seasons, Manchester United fans will enter the January transfer window with few hopes of the club sanctioning a big-name arrival.

Indeed, Ruben Amorim is likely to be resigned to shopping on the loan market if he wants to bolster his squad for the second half of the campaign.

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While injuries haven’t been as debilitating as they were this time last year, it’s the stagnant form of certain players which will be posing as red flags to the new head coach. Primarily, it’s his attacking options where the situation looks bleak, as Rasmus Hojlund has scored only twice in his 13 appearances since returning from injury, and Joshua Zirkzee has yet to add to his account since scoring on his debut back in August.

INEOS are said to view the Dutch international, who signed a £36.5 million deal from Bologna in the summer, as something of a ‘lost cause’.

Reds face competition from a CL club in Christopher Nkunku pursuit

(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

As such, transfer chiefs have been scouring Europe to try and identify cut-price options to reinforce the forward department mid-season. According to numerous outlets, they’ve settled on a familiar face in the form of Chelsea’s Christopher Nkunku.

The 27-year-old poses as a proven centre-forward who now boasts Premier League experience on top of his stellar Bundesliga tenure, with Fichajes claiming the Red Devils are now ‘fighting’ with Borussia Dortmund to seal his signature on a temporary basis after Christmas.

Game time has been incredibly hard to come by for Nkunku since Enzo Maresca took the reins, and, in turn, ‘everything points to’ him pushing for a move away at the earliest opportunity. The likes of Nicolas Jackson, Noni Madueke, Pedro Neto and Joao Felix all rank above him in the pecking order, resulting in the Frenchman making just one league start since the campaign got underway in August.

His lengthiest cameo off the bench came in a 26-minute appearance away to West Ham in September. Since then, each of his outings has fallen under the 20-minute mark. Nkunku has returned one goal in the top flight but has enjoyed more prolific form in the Conference League, where he has notched four goals and an assist in his three group-stage starts.