After ending a six-year trophy drought last month, Erik ten Hag will be hoping to go one further in the coming months as he bids to re-establish Manchester United in the upper echelons of the Premier League.
The former Ajax manager has done a commendable job in the wake of United's calamitous 2021/22 campaign, but the Carabao Cup alone will not be enough to quench the Old Trafford faithful's desire for silverware in the long run.
With that in mind, Ten Hag will be seeking major reinforcements in the summer transfer window to ensure the club remain on an upward trajectory. It has already been outlined that his primary transfer target is likely to be an elite No.9, with Harry Kane and Victor Osimhen on the Dutchman's wish list.
Previous reports had claimed that Ten Hag was leaning towards an approach for Osimhen, who has been in scintillating form for Napoli this term. However, doubts over the Nigerian international's suitability for the Premier League have been raised by former Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho.
Mourinho, who had a two-and-a-half year stint in the Old Trafford hot seat, insisted that Osimhen's penchant for "diving" would not adapt well to the English game. Speaking back in January, the Roma boss said of the 24-year-old: “He is of the same level as [Didier] Drogba, but Didier didn’t dive.
“If Victor changes, then okay, I’d buy him if I was at a club with a lot of money. However, if he does go to England one day, he needs to change, because in Italy they put up with this sort of behaviour, whereas in the Premier League, they’d come down hard on him.”
Intriguingly, a fresh report from the Manchester Evening News claims that Kane is Ten Hag's priority summer transfer target - and Tottenham's mid-season capitulation is likely to do United's chances of prising the England captain away from north London no harm.
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Kane made it clear that he was less than impressed after Spurs were meekly eliminated from the FA Cup and the Champions League in the space of a week after the Londoners failed to overcome AC Milan on Wednesday night.
The 29-year-old has previously outlined his desire to win trophies. And Spurs' all-time leading goalscorer has sparked fresh concerns over his long-term future after admitting that competing for a top-four finish alone is simply "not good enough".
Reacting after Tottenham were booed by their own fans after Wednesday night's result, Kane said: “I totally understand it. Top four is not good enough for anyone at this club, especially the fans. They have the right to voice their opinion.
“The last week especially just hasn't been good enough. Before the Sheffield United game, the season could have been a whole lot different. You go through there, you take that momentum into the league game [at Wolves ] and this game. But I feel like that loss last week put a dagger in our hearts and as you can see we haven't really recovered from that.
“Where we're at as a club, we should be winning trophies. That's always the aim. The top four [being our only target] is a consequence of not playing as well as we want to play. Now, that's all we can fight for, so that's going to be the goal and hopefully we can achieve that come the end of the season. But for sure, it's not enough for this club.”
