Attention has turned away from Manchester United in the transfer window, with their rivals stealing the limelight over the past week. Manchester City’s high-profile pursuits of Harry Kane and Jack Grealish and Chelsea’s potential deal for Romelu Lukaku have attracted most of the column inches recently, but United won’t mind that one bit.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are sitting pretty, having conducted their business early, signing Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund and Raphael Varane from Real Madrid.
United are not done yet, but having spent £73m on Sancho and £34m, which could rise to £43m on Varane, they have completed the vast majority of their business.
Kieran Trippier remains a transfer target, with Solskjaer keen to add the experienced 30-year-old to his squad as competition for Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
But with The Daily Star reporting that Atletico Madrid want £30m for a non-essential player who is in the last year of his contract, United may well pass up the opportunity if the Spanish side don’t alter their demands.
Then there is Paul Pogba, who has rejected the offer of a new contract as he eyes a move to Paris Saint-Germain.
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City have won three of the last four Premier League titles and will take some stopping this time around too.
Meanwhile, Lukaku’s pending return to Stamford Bridge is similarly ominous, with Thomas Tuchel set to add a world-class striker to a Champions League-winning squad which was bolstered by £220m of arrivals last summer.
Yet, if United take a long-term look at the potential transfer moves, they may well take a positive view.
At the start of this summer there were a handful of high-profile strikers seemingly available for transfer.
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Kane was always going to push for an exit from Spurs. Lukaku was a clear target given Inter Milan’s financial problems. Kylian Mbappe has entered the final 12 months of his Paris Saint-Germain contract. Erling Haaland grabbed everyone’s attention by scoring 41 goals in 41 games last season.
It seems as though Kane and Lukaku could be taken off the market and Mbappe is in another stratosphere, given PSG’s financial might and Real Madrid’s long-standing interest. But Haaland is much more attainable.
Dortmund do not want to sell Haaland this summer, given Sancho’s departure, but the entire football world knows they are just delaying the inevitable.
While he is valued at a prohibitive £150m by Dortmund this summer, the 20-year-old has a clause in his contract which will allow him to leave for £64m (€75m) next summer.
That is one of the reasons why Haaland’s agent, Mino Raiola, made the rounds earlier this year to speak to Real Madrid and Barcelona; he knows his client will be on the move eventually.
United only had eyes for Sancho this summer, with the 21-year-old coming in to fill their problem right-wing position.
But next summer they will likely have different needs. Edinson Cavani has been kept on for another season, but he will be 35 when his contract expires at the end of June 2022.
It is therefore very likely that United will be in the market for a striker next summer. Luckily for them, Man City and Chelsea probably won’t be and the Spanish giants have their hands tied by their crippling financial situations.
It requires a bit of wishful thinking, but Haaland following Sancho’s lead and arriving at Old Trafford next summer is not beyond the realms of possibility.