Anthony Martial has suffered yet another injury setback and we are under a month into the season. The striker missed Brighton and Brentford through injury and was only fit enough to play 45 minutes of Manchester United's game against Liverpool and then suffered an Achilles injury ahead of the win at Southampton.
It is disappointing given how well he played in preseason and also how quickly he seemed to adapt to Erik ten Hag's style of football. This leaves United with a problem however, Cristiano Ronaldo is still looking to leave the club and that would leave only Marcus Rashford available to play a makeshift striker role if Martial was to get injured again.
With a few days left of the summer window, the clock is ticking and with the Manchester Evening News understanding that United are confident of acquiring Antony and also still in the market for a goalkeeper and right back, this leaves limited funds available for another striker. But could the answer lie in a former player?
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Memphis Depay is available for a cut-price fee from Barcelona this summer and the 28-year-old could be seen as the perfect striker for Ten Hag's system. However, some United fans have reservations about the player after his previous spell at Old Trafford went so poorly.
Depay was signed by Louis van Gaal after an outstanding campaign with PSV, but never seemed to find his feet. He was then marginalised by Jose Mourinho before being sold to Olympique Lyon at a loss.
The Depay that United would get now, however, is completely different to the inexperienced winger they bought nearly seven years ago. Firstly he has moved more centrally during his career, playing as a striker who looks to link up with the players around him rather than an individualistic winger.
While at Lyon he scored 76 goals and registered 56 assists in 178 games and he was part of the side who were victorious over Manchester City in the Champions League in 19/20. Furthermore, in recent years, Depay has reflected on his poor spell at United and shown maturity while talking about what went wrong.
In his book 'The Heart of a Lion', he said: "I lost myself in Manchester. That was the real heart of the matter. It took me a few years to realise that. During my time in Manchester I blamed everybody: Van Gaal, Mourinho, I felt like the whole world was against me. But I didn’t blame myself. That’s not how it works in life.
"It was very frustrating I didn’t reach my usual level. I had to follow the tactical orders of Van Gaal, otherwise I would certainly lose my spot in the team. Van Gaal doesn’t like players who don’t follow up on his comments.
"Meanwhile, I knew I couldn’t get the best out of my play this way: staying on the left side of the field, running back and forth. I didn’t understand: you buy me because of my specific qualities you saw at PSV and the Dutch national team. After that you put me in a role where I can’t play that way anymore. For me that was confusing."
Now as a striker he seemingly has found his feet and that is the sort of player that United would be getting. He also still loves the club, and posts pictures to his Instagram wearing a classic Eric Cantona top.
Of course, other options can be considered if United are willing to go all out spending-wise this summer. But if they need a budget signing who raises the level of the side, then Depay could be their man.
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