It is true that Manchester United need reinforcements at the attacking end of the pitch this summer and they have been dealt with a blow in their pursuit with one of the targets, Edinson Cavani not being interested in leaving PSG. However, while the sun has sunk on one end, there is hope on the other side.
Daily Star claims that Moussa Dembélé has expressed his desire to move to Old Trafford this summer, serving a massive blow to the other Premier League club Chelsea interested in the French player’s services. The report has also stated that United would have to shell out £60m for acquiring the service of the Lyon star, whom Ole Gunnar Solskjær holds in high regards.
The rise to prominence of Dembélé
Starting his career at the Paris Saint-Germain youth setup, Dembélé has already plied his trade in the Premier League once. He joined Fulham in 2012 and was part of the 2013-14 campaign when the club participated in the English first division. He played in two matches for the club and eventually they were relegated into the Championship where he stuck with the Cottagers for the next two seasons.
His next stop was Celtic where he certainly made a name for himself scoring 26 league goals in 55 matches and guiding his team to two Scottish Premiership titles. Call from his homeland came, and the 23-year-old joined Lyon in 2018, putting the ball at the back of the net 31 times from 60 appearances in Ligue 1. He has successfully established himself as one of the most promising strikers in the world and given the right kind of opportunity, Dembélé could be ranked with the very bests.
How will Dembélé fit at United?
Marcus Rashford has been kind of a lone ranger for the Red Devils attack with the English forward not getting the type of support he would desire from his teammates. Although Anthony Martial has been kind of decent, his conversion rate is not what would take the club back to their perch, and almost the entire fan base knows that. In that respect, the loan move of Odion Ighalo has been of great help, but keeping the 30-year-old for too long would not solve the problem.
This is where Moussa Dembélé would be a missing piece in their jigsaw puzzle if the club can bring him to England this summer. The French striker could be used in either of two systems; 4-2-3-1 with him leading the line or 4-4-2 with both Rashford and Dembélé at the top.
The ex-Fulham star is a versatile man, and there are lots of roles that he could take up in a football field, including dropping a bit down to support the strikers if Solskjær wants to deploy both Martial and Rashford ahead of him. Therefore, the Mancunian club should waste no further time in their bid to bring the Lyon man to Old Trafford.
