Erik Ten Hag could sign his own ‘Haaland’ in Man Utd swoop for £87m powerhouse this January

Erik Ten Hag could sign his own ‘Haaland’ in Man Utd swoop for £87m powerhouse this January

The Red Devils have been linked with an interest in the impressive centre-forward.

Erling-Haaland-Manchester-city
Goalscoring has been a major problem for Manchester United and it is one that they could begin to solve by dipping into the market this month.

The January transfer window has been open for two weeks and the Red Devils are yet to add a new number nine to bolster their firepower at the top end of the pitch.

Erik ten Hag’s side have scored 24 goals in their 21 Premier League matches so far this season, which is a tally that 13 teams have been able to beat.

As you can see from the table above, United have not had a consistent scorer in the top-flight, and their main centre-forward – Rasmus Hojlund – has scored two goals, the second of which came against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Man United’s search for a striker
In December, Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manhã, via Sport Witness, reported that the Red Devils are one of a number of clubs interested in a deal for Sporting forward Viktor Gyokeres.

However, the outlet mentioned that the Liga Portugal side are keen to keep him until the end of the campaign, at least, and the player is committed to remaining there for the remainder of the season.

Gyokeres only joined Sporting from Coventry City last summer and is now attracting interest after an incredible start to life away from English football.

Fellow Premier League side Chelsea, according to the Evening Standard, are also eyeing up a swoop to land the Sweden international to bolster their attack.

That report added that the impressive number nine has a release clause of £87m in his current contract, which would allow one of the interested parties to snap him up for that fee without Sporting being able to reject it. However, they would still need to convince the player to ditch his new club after just six months.

It remains to be seen whether or not United are willing, or able, to splash out such a fee on Gyokeres to improve their options in the final third this month, or in the summer.

Ten Hag could, though, land his own version of Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland by securing a deal to bring the Sporting star to Old Trafford.

How Gyokeres is similar to Haaland
Both players are clinical, ruthless, and powerful centre-forwards – a throwback in a way – who have both been on fire for their respective teams this season.

However, the comparison dates back to when Gyokeres was powering his way through Championship defences for Coventry during the 2022/23 campaign.

Opposition manager Tony Mowbray, who was in charge of Sunderland at the time, described him as being too fast, big, and strong for teams to deal with, which he likened to how Haaland has dominated the Premier League.

Standing at 6 foot 2, the Sporting machine is an imposing striker, like the 6 foot 4 Cityzen finisher, who can cause constant problems for opposition defenders