Updated:
Mar 18, 2023 6:25 pm
Manchester United needs a pure-blood 9. Who will he be?
Marcus Rashford is in top form, scoring goals in different ways, but the English player is being fielded as a winger with great scoring skills rather than a striker in a typical 9 position.
Manchester United needs a pure-blood 9. Who will he be?
Pure-blood 9 are highly-sought after players that usually end up with impressive price tags, as it’s hard to replace these players and they have a very specific physique that is not easy to find.
Harry Kane is a good example of that. Even if Tottenham continues to struggle, especially after the recent departure from the Champions League after failing to beat AC Milan at home in the 2022/23 Champions League Round of 16, the English captain remains an expensive name.
Even if he wears 10 while playing for The Three Lions, he started his career as a pure-blood striker who also has the capacity to create chances for his teammates to score goals.
Kane’s skills to score goals with headers possibly are unparalleled in 2023, and for that reason, he’s still considered to be worth €90m ($95m) even if he’s already 29.
Victor Oshimen: The Prolific Striker of Napoli
Victor Oshimen is one of the players responsible for the dream-come-true season of Napoli in 2022/23. The president of Napoli, Aurelio de Laurentiis is a famous film producer in Italy, and even his best fictional work perhaps couldn’t predict the numbers of his beloved Napoli in 2022/23, as they’re almost certain to win the ongoing Serie A season and are very likely to qualify to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, according to betting online odds available right now.
Victor Oshimen has impressive numbers in the ongoing season. The Nigerian player born in Lagos has scored 19 goals in 21 games played in the ongoing Serie A season. Moreover, the fact that he only had 3 assists only shows how he’s a traditional 9: not much focused on creating chances, but lethal to make the most of the assists produced by his teammates.
He may not be worth the same price tag as Harry Kane according to the market, but the player still has an impressive valuation at this moment. Oshimen is worth €70m ($74m) according to the consultants that are experts in soccer player valuation.
In the last few years, his price tag has been escalating since he was transferred from Wolfsburg to Charleroi from Belgium for €3.5m, then from the Belgian side to Lille for €22.40m, and finally from the French team to Napoli for €75.00m on Sep 1st, 2020.
Manchester United: Regaining Strenght
After some melancholic years after the retirement of the legendary sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United seems to be back on track, especially after their first title under the spell of Erik ten Hag against Newcastle in the League Cup.
A good part of that recovery is because Man Utd has a strong squad even after the extremely controversial and eventful departure of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Names like Varane and Casemiro made Man Utd incredibly stronger, as they have a combination of experience and still some good fitness as they’re not that old.
This is exactly what Manchester United needs, and perhaps Harry Kane could be the very best name to deliver just that.
While English football, especially at the Premier League level, is incredibly plural and diverse in terms of nationalities in 2023, signing the captain of The English Team always makes headlines, and allows the marketing team of any English club the chance to help the club make millions in marketing activations, which could also benefit the club indirectly.
However, a bet on Oshimen could be more interesting if Man Utd is thinking long-term, as the Nigerian striker is just 24, and could be a star for the present and for the future of The Red Devils.
Regardless of who they try to sign, if they really want to confirm transfers of names like the Nigerian and the English star discussed here, the financial planning will have to be very careful as that may be the main signing of an entire season, and perhaps, in the next 2-3 years due to the price involves, especially in an era of tightening financial fair play regulations as the years pass.
