THURSDAY MORNING TRANSFER: Manchester United make contact to sign £25m ‘iceman’ who has been compared with Lautaro Martinez

THURSDAY MORNING TRANSFER: Manchester United make contact to sign £25m ‘iceman’ who has been compared with Lautaro Martinez

Manchester United are very light up top right, but now an approach has been made to add to the options with a 19-goal forward.

Erik ten Hag will have a long list for Ineos to strengthen this summer, but if he had to choose just one position, some reinforcements up front wouldn’t be far off top priority.

For Manchester United, the position has been a problem since the beginning of last season when it became clear that Anthony Martial wasn’t going to play much of a role.

Since then effectively, Rasmus Hojlund has been all on his own, which is a problem when he’s fit and an even bigger problem when he’s injured.

But now it seems United are seriously considering an addition with Joshua Zirkzee linked and now an approach is reportedly made for another option.

With Zirkzee’s agent demanding ludicrous fees, now it’s been reported that United may actually have turned attention to a different option.

This is according to a report from I News, which suggests that Lille’s 24-year-old striker Jonathan David is high on the striker shortlist for this summer.

The report continues that United have actually already made contact with David’s representatives over a potential move, but the Red Devils will face stiff competition from Spurs, West Ham and Aston Villa to sign the Canadian international.

David is supposedly available this summer for a bargain of £25m, with Lille keen to get a fee and avoid losing him for free as his contract expires in 2025. In a bid to see this happen, Lille have already confirmed he’s for sale this summer.

United have liked the look of David for a while, and now he’s shown how good he is in two seasons on the bounce, scoring 24 goals and then 19 in back-to-back Ligue 1 campaigns.

Signing a striker like David would be an excellent move from United as he’s clearly ready for the step up and his 19 Ligue 1 goals in 2023/24 were only beaten by Kylian Mbappe who grabbed 27.

In terms of his qualities, David is a technically gifted striker who not only scores a bunch of goals but also adds 2.64 shot-creating actions per 90 while being capable of link-up play.

In terms of similar players, FBRef ranks Argentine whiz Lautaro Martinez as his fourth most similar player, which should indicate what a gem United could be about to sign.

“He’s like an iceman,” Canada coach Josh Herdman said as quoted by the official Ligue 1 website.

“He’s able to slow it right down in the box, wait for the keeper to sit down, and pick his moments. That’s a real special quality in a striker.”

David looks like exactly the kind of striker Ten Hag wants this summer to share the striking load with Hojlund. Definitely one many United fan want to see happen.