Now, Which Striker Is United Material?

It has been rumoured that Fergie has been looking at a few strikers recently, but with the recent announcement of Ole Solskjaer’s immediate retirement, United are left short of quality frontmen and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the great Scot make one more visit to the transfer market before September 1st.

Currently, our 3 main strikers are Wayne Rooney, Louis Saha and Carlos Tevez. But if you look at other top Premiership clubs, it becomes clear that 4 strikers are the ideal.

Here’s what the other top clubs’ strike force look like:

Arsenal
Adebayor, van Persie, Eduardo, Bendtner

Chelski
Drogba, Shevchenko, Pizarro, Kalou

Liverpool
Torres, Kuyt, Voronin, Crouch

Tottenham
Berbatov, Keane, Bent, Defoe

Everton
Johnson, Yakubu, Anichebe, Vaughan

So with the clock ticking, who could be in with a chance of joining the Old Trafford clan?

Dimitar Berbatov
I personally think that Berbatov is top of the manager’s list. He may not be the ruthless out and out goalscorer the fans are craving, but he has shown he can integrate with a fellow striker almost seamlessly with his wide array of deft touches and flick-ons.

Going out on a limb I’d say Berbatov is currently the best player in the Premier League. He seems to have that magic aura about him that sends shivers down the spines of even the toughest defenders. Berbatov would definitely be the best addition in my opinion but I reckon the chances of him joining in the summer window are zero, especially after his recent pledge to the cause at White Hart Lane.

Abdul Salam-Bilal
No I’m not having a laugh. He is an outrageously talented player with lots of premiership experience, he’s just more commonly known as Nicolas Anelka. In contrast to Berbatov, he is the ruthless out and out goalscorer that the fans are craving, but as everyone knows he does have a history of being a volatile character.

It remains to be seen if the manager is prepared to take that risk, but he certainly has ‘controlling arrogant Frenchmen’ down to a T and the relatively small price of £9m could be tempting.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
One we’ve been linked with before, Huntelaar is a Dutchman with an outstanding scoring record in Holland (déjà vu anyone?). As a player he is quite similar in style to Fernando Torres with good height and pace, but he is yet to prove himself on the truly big stage.

I think Fergie may have been thinking of him as a future purchase once he could be more certain about his abilities, but he could well be rushed into buying the youngster sooner than expected.

Jermaine Defoe
Another we’ve been linked with in the past, Defoe is a truly different player to the above 3. From his point of view, this could be a great opportunity to force his way into the England team as a pairing with Wayne Rooney. He has fantastic pace and sharp shooting ability.

It makes me proud that United have a strong core of UK players and adding Defoe would stick to that policy. He is yet to sign a contract extension at Spurs meaning he could be available for a significantly reduced fee if Fergie was to move now.

Adriano Leite Ribeiro
The burly brazilian centre-forward has already found the net at Old Trafford this season with a thunderbolt header. Too bad it was an own-goal then.

He seems to be on the way out of the San Siro if the reported asking price of £10m is met, but I don’t think there is any need for excitement here. Despite having a pneumatic drill of a left foot (one that puts John Arne Riise to shame) Adriano is nothing more than a cumbersome oaf on the pitch. He’s also the most one-footed player I’ve ever seen and for a Brazilian that’s just blasphemy. Even Patrice Evra (the second most one-footed player I’ve ever seen) can control the ball with his right foot.

I’d love to say that there was no chance of him coming to Old Trafford, but you just never know these days. Fingers crossed some ‘Reject FC’ like West Ham decide to splash the cash on him while we all sit back and giggle.

Well that’s my roundup of possible targets, feel free to add any more in the comments. I guess all we can do now is wait and see what’s in store as the next 3 days unfold.

My fingers are crossed Fergie shocks us all with another £1.5m signing from a small Scandinavian club.

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