Manchester United can sign ideal Juan Mata replacement and bring a new attacking dimension – Elliott Jackson

Manchester United are already ramping up their plans to strengthen their squad this summer time.

MEN Sport understands that Erling Haaland is the club’s first-choice striker target to develop into the long-term alternative for Romelu Lukaku, within the eyes of each Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and technical director John Murtough.

United are additionally eager to strengthen their choices at centre-back nevertheless it’s understood that they could solely have the ability to signal one marquee participant, corresponding to Haaland, who may price a nine-figure sum.

Whereas the membership have agreed on the necessity for a brand new striker, right-wing additionally stays an issue place. The membership tried to signal Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund final season however refused to satisfy their £110million asking worth and have since introduced in Amad for £37million.

Mason Greenwood has struggled for consistency this season, scoring solely 4 occasions and that has, at occasions, led to Paul Pogba or Marcus Rashford taking part in out of the right-hand aspect.

In current weeks, United have been linked with a transfer for Sporting CP attacker Pedro Goncalves. The Portuguese playmaker has scored 15 occasions in all competitions to date this season.

The 22-year-old was signed as a direct alternative for Bruno Fernandes, who, in fact, moved to Previous Trafford in January 2020. Having graduated via Wolves’ youth academy after spells with Braga and Valencia, Goncalves returned to Portugal with newly-promoted Famalicao in July 2019 however was snapped up by Lisbon simply 12 months later to interchange Fernandes.

All of Goncalves’ targets this season have come from open play and though he has predominantly performed as a central attacking midfielder, his sharp motion inside the realm has given trigger to consider that he might be as equally efficient taking part in from the correct.

United are nicely stocked with gamers able to taking part in in ‘quantity 10’ areas. Fernandes stays primary within the pecking order, whereas Donny van de Beek and even Pogba would most likely identify that place as their favoured, in a perfect world.

Goncalves would provide United a distinct menace from a large space, although. He has the acceleration and alter of tempo you would want from a large participant however he’s far more adept at selecting the ball up in tight areas and linking play, which is a distinct choice to Rashford, Greenwood or Anthony Martial, who all wish to assault defenders one vs one.

Within the visuals under, Goncalves is proven selecting up possession on the right-wing earlier than shifting the ball contained in the pitch.

As quickly because the cross is made, the 22-year-old breaks from his place on the flank to a central space, busting into the field.

Because the cross is pulled again, Goncalves is within the excellent place to complete first time into the underside nook and he duly obliges. The 22-year-old depends solely on intelligent motion and velocity of thought to engineer himself loads of room into the realm to seek out the online.

Recruitment from outdoors of the highest 5 main European leagues is all the time dangerous. For each Fernandes, there’s a Bebe.

Nonetheless, Goncalves’ attributes lend to a large participant that might provide United one other inventive dimension. He is nearer to Juan Mata in his prime, than a Sancho or Raphinha, who has been linked with as a possible large possibility after impressing for Leeds United.

So far as a summer time switch goes, Goncalves is reported to carry a £51.3million launch clause in his contract, which might make negotiations even more durable.

As United discovered with Fernandes, Sporting are robust negotiators and given Goncalves’ meteoric rise in European soccer, it is laborious to think about they’d sanction a take care of a lot of a reduction on that determine.

Nonetheless, as Mata involves in direction of the top of his Previous Trafford tenure, Goncalves might be the perfect alternative to ease the inventive burden on Fernandes.