The latest player to find his name in Manchester United’s elite list of transfer targets, reportedly, is Celtic’s latest sensation, Moussa Dembele. Manchester United crashed out of the FA Cup last week to a strong Chelsea side, where Mourinho’s men packed little punch as Marcus Rashford was the only forward available.
Despite spending around £150million last summer and bringing in some of the best players from across Europe, the Red Devils have found scoring extremely difficult. Barring the Swedish striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mourinho hasn’t found a composed display from any of his other forwards.
And now with reports emerging of Ibrahimovic leaving the club at the end of the season, Mourinho is in a real crisis. The 35-year-old has found scoring easier with age and is keen on moving to the United States with numerous MLS clubs keen on landing him. And if United fail to qualify for the Champions League, chances of retaining him are slimmer, despite the club having an option of extending his contract by another year.
Further, with Wayne Rooney closer to the end of his top-level career, there is every chance he will move out next season too. Mourinho is left with Anthony Martial, Rashford and Henrikh Mkhitaryan up front and although all three are lethal, the manager is looking for someone to spearhead the trio. Dembele seems to be an ideal option nonetheless, given the outstanding season he is currently having in the Scottish Premiership.
The 20-year-old has bagged 17 times so far in 26 league appearances and provided seven assists. Further proving his critics wrong, who claimed the Scottish Premiership to be non-competitive, Dembele showed his potential in the elite Champions League, where he was pitted against Barcelona, Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach. He scored five times in 12 UCL games, which includes the qualification ties.
His performances have attracted huge interest from European super giants like Real Madrid and Barcelona. United’s Premier League rival, Chelsea, were closing in on a January bid for the French international, which didn’t happen.
The Paris Saint-Germain youth product moved to Fulham’s Under-18 squad in 2012 and wasted no time in breaking into the first team in 2014. Former Liverpool boss, Brendan Rodgers, identified his talent and brought him to Celtic last summer. The forward has since then scored 32 goals in 45 games and Rodgers knows quite well that he won’t be able to retain him for long.
Reportedly, the Scottish side wouldn’t take less than £30m at any cost and given the number of suitors, Dembele is having, we expect a bidding war to ensue soon.
