Liverpool’s great success for Darwin Núñez could lead Manchester United to plan a play for Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski’s goal machine. Thus, according to the Daily Star, who claim that the Red Devils will try to tempt the striker out of place of his ideal destination in Barcelona.
Lewandowski is one of the many elite strikers in Europe who are expected to be on the move this summer, with the prolific Polish international setting out his intention to leave Bayern. The 33-year-old has entered the final year of his contract and has publicly stated that his career at the Allianz Arena is over.
United are expected to undergo a major overhaul this summer after a miserable end last season under interim head Ralf Rangnick. Former Ajax coach Ten Hag has reportedly received a transfer budget of more than £ 100 million, and the Benfica Núñez star was said to be at the top of the list.
However, reports from the weekend indicate that Liverpool are closing a record deal for the Uruguayan international. The winners of the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup seem to have moved quickly to secure a replacement for Sadio Mane, who has been keen to move to Bayern.
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Bayern are said to be asking for more than £ 40m for their star striker, but that price does not appear to have deterred Chelsea or United from expressing interest. Tanmateix, podria resultar prohibitiu per al Barcelona amb dificultats en efectiu, amb el president del futbol espanyol Javier Tebas insistint que els gegants catalans no tenen cap possibilitat de completar l’acord tret que venguin jugadors per complir amb la normativa financera.
Chelsea’s talks on a second outing for Romelu Lukaku could pave the way for United to make their move. Like the arrival of Raphael Varane last summer, it would be about revisiting an old Ferguson target almost a decade later.
Lewandowski revealed his conversations with the former United coach in December 2020 and told France Football: “After my second year at Dortmund, I had a conversation with Sir Alex Ferguson. I wanted him to come to Manchester. .
“I was very interested. I can even say I was ready. But Dortmund didn’t want to let me go. It didn’t bother me anymore because things were going well with Borussia.”
Lewandowski’s signing would be a statement of intent, as have the recent arrivals of Edinson Cavani, Falcao, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. There would probably be few complaints from United fans if the club got one of the best strikers in world football after a sixth-place finish.
However, moving from directing Núñez to reflecting on a Lewandowski movement represents a drastic shift in priority. It looks like rivals Manchester City and Liverpool will have signed their leader for the coming seasons at Erling Haaland and Nunez respectively.
United already have the club’s legend Ronaldo at their disposal, who still scored 24 goals despite being criticized for much of the season. Rangnick warned that the Red Devils are six seasons behind their rivals, but signing Lewandowski would be another attempt to fix it quickly.
Names linked so far with United suggest that Ten Hag are planning a long-term rebuild to create a team capable of closing that gap over the coming seasons. However, Núñez’s shift of attention to Lewandowski suggests that the red devils may still be working on the same tired project.