The logic behind Man United’s recruitment that could solve their goalscoring crisis | OneFootball

Manchester United were not merely outscored by 15 other clubs in the Premier League last season. They were outscored – as a team, and amassing the combined efforts of the 31 players who took the field in the division for them, plus the two opponents who donated own goals – by a trio who could have formed their new front three.

United got 44 goals. Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Liam Delap got 47 between them. Cunha has already joined United. Delap definitely won’t; they always thought Chelsea was a likelier destination and so it proved. But if the much-coveted Delap’s preference was for Stamford Bridge, Mbeumo, who has a similarly large group of admirers, has his heart set on Old Trafford. A second bid of around £60m has been made. He is likely to join Cunha in a forward line Ruben Amorim has acquired more than inherited.

It could suggest a level of logic has been applied to United’s summer rebuilding. What did they lack? Goals. Who are they signing? Goalscorers. Mbeumo’s tally of 20 put him fourth behind only three players who are beyond United’s reach. Cunha’s total of 15 left him tied for eighth and none of the seven to muster more would prefer to play as a left-sided No 10. Delap’s 12 gave him a share of 14th place, but no one scored as many for a relegated team and by getting one-third of Ipswich’s goals, it meant only Mohamed Salah, Alexander Isak and Chris Wood had a fractionally higher share of any team’s.

None of which represents a guarantee of success at United. The Theatre of Dreams has been a graveyard of careers for too many. But a recruitment drive has a sound grounding in Amorim’s tactics – Delap a natural front-runner, Cunha suited and qualified for the role in his slipstream and to his left and Mbeumo, from his time on the right of Brentford’s 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 systems, probably able to slip infield a little in the Portuguese’s 3-4-3 – there is also a marked shift in policy.

If Mason Mount is deemed a midfielder, the previous forward Man United signed before Cunha with Premier League experience was the borrowed Wout Weghorst, the last they bought the returning Cristiano Ronaldo, the last they paid a Premier League rival for Romelu Lukaku.

Part of the test for Cunha and Mbeumo will be if they can flourish in the far greater scrutiny of a much bigger club. In another respect, they may be deemed low-risk acquisitions. They are Premier League proven in the way their immediate predecessors are not. They come with more experience in every respect: Cunha is already 26, Mbeumo will be before the season starts.

Matheus Cunha kicked off Man United’s recruitment drive (Manchester United via Getty Imag)

Bryan Mbeumo looks likely to join him at Old Trafford this summer (PA Wire)

They could be seen as both the antidotes to Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee; perhaps the replacements for them, if the last two summers’ striking signings end up on the bench. Hojlund scored fewer goals in two Premier League seasons – 14 in 62 games – than Cunha got in the last, suspension-interrupted, one. Zirkzee mustered as many in his debut season as Mbeumo got in the first four days of January: three.

Their combined tally of 17 goals in 94 top-flight outings came in different ways: Zirkzee at least scored on his debut. Hojlund did not find the net until his 15th appearance, with Erik ten Hag long lamenting a goal that was disallowed during his first start. United could see a difference between Hojlund’s returns in Europe, with 11 goals in 21 games, and England. Zirkzee’s goal-per-minute ratio is better in Europe, too, if less dramatically.

If their fortunes – like those of Amorim and Ten Hag – can underline the importance of Premier League knowhow, United could also consider the case of a couple of the attacking imports who could, had their time at Old Trafford gone very differently, occupied the positions of the two No 10s that may instead be reserved for Cunha and Mbeumo. Antony scored in his first three Premier League appearances, but only two of the next 59; unexceptional as his goal return for Ajax was, it was better than that. Jadon Sancho, English but bought from Borussia Dortmund, scored nine times in 58 top-flight games for United after 38 in 104 Bundesliga matches.

The common denominator, it could be pointed out, is United. They have not even managed 60 goals in a league season since 2020-21. Amorim contrived to render them still less potent and 44 goals was their fewest in 51 years.

There are problems of chemistry and creativity. United only figured 12th for expected goals last season. But they were 10th for shots on target, seventh for shots in total. That they ranked 19th for chance conversion told a tale.

That Mbeumo and Cunha got 35 Premier League goals from an xG of just 22.08 shows a dramatic difference to a duo who got seven goals from an expected goals of 11.09 and who finished joint 78th and tied for 97th in the division’s scoring charts. Cunha’s 14 percent chance-conversion rate was only slightly better than Hojlund’s 13, even if it reflects the Brazilian’s habit of letting fly from long range; though a capacity to fashion something from nothing could prove useful if United again rank in the bottom half for big chances created. Mbeumo’s 20 goals included five penalties and, obviously, he and Bruno Fernandes cannot take the same spot kicks next season.

Man United need to solve a goalscoring problem that is not being addressed by the lacklustre Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund (Getty Images)

If there is a danger of buying a player on the back of a career-best year, United have taken other approaches before; they hoped Hojlund was on an upward trajectory but signed him too soon. Yet he, in turn, looked a reaction to the high-earning veterans, in Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani.

Ten Hag could argue that he wanted a striker with proven Premier League potency and Harry Kane had sustained his record over rather more seasons than Cunha or Mbeumo. Now United, shopping in the £60m bracket, cannot afford a Kane. But after committing the best part of £120m to Zirkzee and Hojlund and seeing each underachieve in the Premier League, it is a change in strategy to target those who have scored in England. And then it is a case of seeing if they can be as prolific for United as they were for Wolves and Brentford.