Former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke feels Erik ten Hag needs to focus on signing a pacy No.9 who can strike fear into opposition defenders if his side is to gain ground on rivals Manchester City.
Ten Hag is in the market for a new frontman with a number of options on United's radar. Tottenham's Harry Kane and Napoli's Victor Osimhen are the two players who have been most closely linked with a transfer, while younger alternatives have been identified in Eintracht Frankfurt's Randal Kolo Muani and Atalanta's Rasmus Hojlund.
Marcus Rashford's impressive form has raised the question of whether a more creative striker would be a better link-up option to play through the middle, though Yorke is insistent United need an old-fashioned attacker who is focused solely on finding the back of the net.
Speaking to Mirror Football on behalf of Match.Center, Yorke said: "It's been well documented the No.9 position is a major problem for United. If you look at what we've done it's been a decent season. Rashford scored 30 goals, so if we got another No.9 who can score 25-30 goals then you can imagine how close we'd be to Man City. That's a position we really need to take care of.
"Anthony Martial has had around seven years of trying to have a go, Rashford has come in and played that position, but it's a specialist position, you've got to play that position week-in, week-out to get better at it. There's no doubt United need to strengthen in that position 100% this year if they're going to get closer to City.
"I think you want more the [Erling] Haaland type, the one who wants to run in behind, who wants to score goals. Just really concentrate on scoring goals, we've got enough creative players when you look at United with Rashford, Bruno [Fernandes], Antony, they're creative players, [Alejandro] Garnacho as well, he's another young talent who can create.
"So you don't want another player who's coming to the ball too much. You want a player who's threatening behind defenders. The game has really become about the players wanting a lot of touches to look good and all that but ultimately as a No.9 you really want to get in the box and score goals."
Asked who he would like to see in a United shirt, Yorke feels his old club should be looking at those at the top end of the market. "Harry Kane, although he comes to feet quite a bit because he's quite clever and still manages to score, there are not too many of those type of players out there," he said.
"United want someone with a little bit of pace, threatening defenders, players who can get you the goals. That's an area that has been struggling, they don't make No.9's that way inclined too much like Haaland. That's why I said two years ago this is a guy you need to buy for £150million and people looked at me and thought, wow, I was crazy. But he's proved he is a rare breed.
"Kane can fit that bill, he's done it on a consistent basis and been tremendous for England, he knows the league and knows what to contribute. Outside of that you've got people like [Kylian] Mbappe, if he's available and we can get him once we've got that change of the guard from the leaders of the United hierarchy then those would be my two options."
United had begun to cool their interest in Kane just last week amid fears they would be drawn into a long and arduous trransfer saga with Tottenham chief Daniel Levy, who is reluctant to sell his star striker. However, reports have since suggested United are preparing a last-ditch bid to sign the England captain this summer.
Meanwhile Mbappe could well be on his way out of Paris Saint-Germain this summer after reaffirming his desire to leave the club when his contract expires in 2024. PSG do not want to see the World Cup winner leave for nothing and would listen to offers in the coming months.
Real Madrid are widely expected to land Mbappe's services on a free transfer next summer, though United could muscle their way in if they are prepared to meet PSG's asking price. Sheikh Jassim has reportedly identified Mbappe as a potential marquee signing for Man Utd this summer if his takeover bid is successful.
