Erik ten Hag knew he would need a striker in January as soon as Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract was terminated in November.
He remained insistent that he’d prefer the superstar to be in his plans throughout, possibly partly in the knowledge that he’d be given a small budget in January amid last summer’s £225m spend.
Love him or now loathe him, Ronaldo was undeniably a goalscorer, obviously. To try and replace that mid-season is always costly and with the board identifying the summer as the next stage of their big recruitment drive, Ten Hag doesn’t have bagfuls to spend.
