3 talking points from Manchester United’s January transfer window | Premier League 2019-20

#2 Striker search highlighted lack of planning at United

Odion Ighalo

The fact that Manchester United started their search for a striker with Erling Haaland but ended up with Ighalo speaks volumes of the current situation at the club. It is hard to imagine that a club of the stature of United could display such lack of planning in the transfer window. While the failure to convince Haaland to make the move to Old Trafford might have occurred due to various reasons, United’s reluctance to step up efforts to move on to counter targets was a huge letdown.

The first half of the season had clearly indicated that United still required a proper No. 9 in the team. After Haaland’s rejection, United went under the radar and showed no desire to prize away other top strikers from the league or abroad. While the negotiations with Sporting Lisbon for Fernandes seemed to have strained them, the Portuguese’s arrival knocked some urgency back into United.

The Red Devils enquired about Danny Ings, had a bid turned down for Joshua King and tried to target every striker they could think of around in the last 2 days of the month, before eventually running out of time and settling down on Ighalo. One cannot help but wonder that had this urgency existed at the beginning of the season, United’s hunt for a world-class striker might have had the desired outcome.