Earlier this week, Ralf Rangnick revealed that he believed Manchester United must sign two “modern” strikers this summer to help Erik Ten Hag’s task of rebuilding the squad.
The Dutchman will take over from Rangnick who will step down at the end of the season to take on a consultancy role at the club while also becoming the new Austria manager.
The German stated that he believed it was important the club bring in forwards who can help share the goalscoring burden on Cristiano Ronaldo who has directly netted over a third of United’s 57 goals this season.
"Cristiano isn't a central striker or does not want to play in that position," Rangnick said. "It's obvious the club needs at least two new strikers who give this team more quality and more options. I wouldn't even call it wingers.
"Two strikers and modern strikers, that do not necessarily have to be wingers. If you look into international football, there aren't many top teams who still play with two strikers. Most play with either three strikers or a false nine."
Rangnick continued by stating, "If you look at Liverpool and Manchester City, they have in their squad five or six top-class strikers. Gabriel Jesus, until four weeks ago, hardly played. Now he's playing again regularly.
"You look at the number of players they have and if you ask me is he playing as central striker or winger? Is Jack Grealish a winger or striker? They're all strikers and can play in different positions. They can also switch, they can rotate. Those kinds of players, we don't have that many."
It’s clear from Rangnick’s comments that he’s alluding to forwards who aren’t necessarily there only to purely finish moves but instead also help the team create them.
Positional versatility is also something that he considers valuable. Therefore with all of this in mind, below are four players who could tick these boxes for United this summer.
Jonathan David - Lille - 22
David came to Europe from Canada in 2018, initially joining Gent where he was a revelation, netting 37 goals while registering a further 15 assists in just two seasons. His performances in that time put him on the radar of a number of big European clubs, and it was eventually Lille who made the move in the summer of 2020.
The 22-year-old didn’t take long to adjust to his new surroundings, he scored 13 goals in his first season and has netted 14 already in this one.
The goals have dried up of late and he’s without one in eight weeks, however his performances have still been strong in that period and it seems only a matter of time before he gets back on track.
At Gent David played mostly in an attacking midfield role, yet for Lille he’s been deployed and excelled within a front two. His capacity to thrive both leading a line or playing behind a striker is a testament to his versatility and is something that’d appeal to United.
Martin Terrier - Rennes - 25
Like David, Terrier once plied his trade at Lille and can also boast Lyon on his playing CV. It’s been at Rennes though where he has really excelled. He joined them from Lyon in the summer of 2020 for just over £10million which now looks like a bargain.
In his first full campaign with Rennes, Terrier scored nine league goals while registering a further seven assists. This season, he’s scored over double that (21), with three games still to go.
Impressively, only two of those goals arrived from the penalty spot and his total of 19 non-penalty league goals is the joint fourth-highest across Europe’s top five leagues, matching the likes of Karim Benzema and Son Heung-min.
Beyond this impressive goal return, Terrier is a well-rounded attacker which allows him to play a number of different positions comfortably.
At various stages during his time with Rennes, the six-foot forward has featured as a centre-forward, as a second-striker, as an attacking midfielder and even on the wing.
Jarrod Bowen - West Ham United - 25
While he might not get the recognition, Bowen is now arguably one of the Premier League 's best attackers. So far this season he has scored an impressive 19 goals while registering a further eight assists. He’s actually registered more goal involvements than any other English player across the Premier League.
As a player, he’s robust, durable, skilful and an all-around handful. The 25-year-old most often plays on West Ham ’s right, despite being left-footed. Why? Because the same allows more opportunities to drive at a defence before cutting inside onto his favoured foot to unleash shots on goal.
He is also extremely hard working without the ball and ranks inside the Premier League’s top 30 for all players in terms of the highest number of pressures made this season (511).
Darwin Nunez - Benfica - 22
Nunez has been attracting plenty of attention in recent months thanks to an impressive campaign which has seen him score a combined 31 goals while registering a further two assists.
He’s most often lined up in a front two within a 4-4-2 formation, though under manager Nelson Verissimo, Benfica tend to be a tactically fluid side, utilising different formations such as 4-2-3-1 and 3-4-3. Nunez is able to thrive in them all, shedding some light on his attacking versatility.
When not featuring as an out and out forward, you'll often see Nunez operating on the left of his side's attack. This is despite being right-footed. However similarly to Bowen, this suits him best as it allows him to utilise his blistering pace to run at and bypass defenders before cutting inside onto his favoured foot to unleash efforts at goal.
