‘Manchester United is looking to sign a South American striker.’
According to Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg, United is looking to sign a striker in South America.
It would be a shrewd move if United is able to find a bargain from South America to strengthen the team up front in the January transfer window, regardless of whether Cristiano Ronaldo stays or goes.
United needs more competition up front, scoring only 16 goals from 11 Premier League games.
Intriguingly, one striker from the continent has already been linked with a move to Manchester United over the past month.
Italian outlet Calcio Mercato claims United is tracking Santos wonder kid Marcos Leonardo, 19.
This past season the teenager scored 19 goals and provided five assists.
With United’s squad embracing a more global feel under Ten Hag, including the recent additions of Brazil internationals Antony and Casemiro, it would not be a surprise to see the club attempt to expand on this during the upcoming transfer windows.
One of Manchester United’s recurring themes in the transfer market over the last decade has been a reluctance to sign players directly from South America.
So far, only two have been signed. Guillermo Varela and Facundo Pellistri are two young players signed from Uruguayan club Penarol seven years apart.
Neither can be considered a success. Varela made just 11 appearances for the club and is now with Flamengo in Brazil.
Pellistri has yet to make an appearance, but that could change soon. He is a member of Erik ten Hag’s squad and hopes to make his debut before Uruguay’s World Cup trip.
But it would be foolhardy of United to continue to dismiss a whole continent’s talent pool, based on just two attempts.
One of the clubs’ biggest transfer misses in recent seasons was not signing Ecuador international Moises Caicedo, while Julian Alvarez was a player the club passed on last summer.
Now with Erik ten Hag at the helm, Manchester United may be coming around to a change of approach.
While at Ajax, Ten Hag used the South American market effectively, signing Lisandro Martinez from Argentine side Defensa y Justicia and Antony from Brazilian club Sao Paulo. He was so impressed by both of them, he bought them for Manchester United too.
