Manchester United have held talks with the representatives of Sasa Kalajdzic over a possible transfer, Sky Germany journalist Florian Plettenberg claims.
The Red Devils have been fancied to sign a young striker recently. It could be related to Cristiano Ronaldo’s desire to leave the club to play Champions League football.
RB Leipzig’s Brian Brobbey was mentioned as the initial target, but United’s hierarchy believe the 20-year-old will sign for Ajax permanently after his short-term loan stint.
Stuttgart’s Kalajdzic has now emerged as the alternative option. United have only contacted his entourage, but Plettenberg says the Red Devils are ‘very interesting’ for him.
Kalajdzic would provide a genuine aerial threat
The 25-year-old had an impressive first season in Bundesliga in 2020/21, netting 16 goals from 33 outings. He could not replicate the feat last term after an early season shoulder injury.
However, he made a good comeback in the second half of the campaign, bagging six goals and two assists from 15 league games. He was pivotal to Stuttgart avoiding a relegation play-off.
With a year left on his contract, the German side are now prepared to cash in on his services. He could be a quality striker for United if he can stay unscathed over a prolonged period of time.
Since 2018, the Austrian has suffered three long-term injuries, but his shoulder dislocation was unfortunate. The Red Devils could prise him away on a cut-price deal of around €20 million.
Kalajdzic’s obvious strength is his aerial presence standing at 200cm. He would provide United with a different dimension to their attack. He could be a gamechanger with his strong heading ability.
Since the beginning of the 2020/21 campaign, 50 per cent of his goals have been from headers. He won an impressive four aerial duels per game during the recent German top-flight campaign.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com and WhoScored.com
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