Manchester United's summer transfer priorities have been known for some time now—a new striker and a new central midfielder are at the top of Erik ten Hag's list of recruitment priorities.
United went into this season low on striking options and Cristiano Ronaldo's acrimonious departure in November, although undoubtedly beneficial on the whole, was detrimental in the sense that it left the brittle Anthony Martial as the only recognised central striker in the squad.
The January transfer window is generally a seller's market, and that, coupled with United's financial situation, meant they were unable to bring in an appropriate replacement for a player who was once the greatest scorer in the game.
Also read: Bellingham is ready for the role Ten Hag wants him to take on at United
United strengthened their midfield with the addition of Casemiro and Christian Eriksen last summer. Casemiro is world-class and Eriksen is top-class, but Ten Hag was starting from such a low base—Scott McTominay and Fred was a regular midfield axis under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick—that they are still short in that area when injuries and suspensions strike.
In terms of personnel, there are two marquee names on United's list for each position. Up front, they are Harry Kane and Victor Osimhen; in midfield, they are Frenkie de Jong and Jude Bellingham.
Kane is Ten Hag's preferred striker target, and should the 29-year-old leave Spurs yet stay in the Premier League, it will only be a matter of time before he surpasses Alan Shearer at the top of the division's all-time scoring ranks. Osimhen, meanwhile, is enjoying the best season of his career and is on the brink of firing Napoli to their first Scudetto since 1990. Both players have reasons to leave their respective clubs this summer and United fans will not turn their noses up at either.
The situation with United's midfield targets looks to be trickier to navigate. De Jong and Bellingham would both strengthen United's core but there is the sense that Old Trafford is neither man's preferred destination.
United pursued De Jong for more than three months last summer yet he has repeatedly publicly reaffirmed his wish to remain in Catalonia.
Bellingham's bromances with Liverpool players on England duty don't look like they will bear fruit for the Anfield club, amid widespread reports this week that Liverpool do not want to spend £100million on one player as they set about a rebuild that is far more extensive than anybody would have imagined 12 months ago.
Bellingham, though, can essentially choose which elite club he wants to join. Real Madrid are not given enough credit for the regeneration that has been carried out on their squad, and it must be a tantalising prospect for Bellingham to form a midfield trident with Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga for the next decade. Manchester City are touted to rival Madrid for Bellingham's services, and the need for a new midfielder at the Etihad will be hastened if Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva depart.
United, though, will hope they can convince Bellingham to commit some of the best years of his career to their cause. Ten Hag should be able to offer him Champions League football next season as well as the chance to become the poster boy of the biggest brand in football. There are friends and acquaintances aplenty in United's squad, including Bellingham's former Dortmund colleague Jadon Sancho as well as other England teammates in Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire.
A serious player would not choose his next destination on familiar faces alone, granted, but United will need more than one tempting facet to their offer and familiarity may be a comfort for a 19-year-old from Dudley who has spent the last three years living over 400 miles from home.
Regardless of whether Bellingham is prone to homesickness or not, it feels as though there are more ifs and buts around United's pursuit of a new midfielder than there are around their striker hunt, and if United can't convince De Jong or Bellingham to join, they are going to have a job on their hands finding a player of a similar calibre to improve Ten Hag's squad in time for next season.
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