There is no doubt that Manchester United will be in the market for a new star striker in the summer.
The Red Devils waved goodbye to Marcus Rashford and Antony over the January transfer window, leaving Ruben Amorim with an extremely small pool of forwards for the remainder of the season.
Amorim wanted a new striker on deadline day, but United walked away from a deal for Mathys Tel, with the Bayern Munich forward instead joining Tottenham.
Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have both struggled for form this season and Amorim has even tried Kobbie Mainoo up front in an attempt to solve United’s goal crisis.
Frankly, a solution may have to wait until the summer when United will dip into the market for a new striker. Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres is still available after staying put in Portugal, but a new target has now emerged on United’s radar.
Man United monitor Atalanta striker Mateo Retegui
According to transfer journalist Ekrem Konur, Manchester United are monitoring Atalanta forward Mateo Retegui ahead of a potential summer move.
Paris Saint-Germain are also showing an interest in the 25-year-old.
Retegui moved to Atalanta in a £24m deal from Genoa in 2024 – a year after Rasmus Hojlund left Atalanta for United in a £72m move.
In 22 Serie A appearances this season, Retegui has scored 20 goals, making him the top scorer in Italy’s top-flight this season. Moise Kean sits second with only 15 goals.
Retegui scored against Scott McTominay’s Napoli last month and he now has eight in his last five league games.
Who is Mateo Retegui? Atalanta’s ‘rough diamond’
Retegui has enjoyed a superb debut season with Atalanta, emerging as one of Europe’s brightest young strikers.
As pointed out by Statman Dave, Retegui has gone toe-to-toe with the likes of Mohamed Salah and Harry Kane this season – the only other strikers in Europe’s top five leagues to score 20 or more goals.
In a BBC Sport report about Retegui, the young Italy international is described as a “rough diamond” when he arrived at Atalanta.
Italy manager Roberto Mancini raved about Retegui after calling him up for Euro 2024 qualifiers.
“Mateo can score, and that’s not peanuts,” Mancini said at the time. “He is a classical centre-forward – he reminds me of Gabriel Batistuta when he arrived in Italy.”
Mancini describes Retegui as a “classical” striker, and his style of play seems to suit the physicality of the Premier League.
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Retegui is described as being “strong in the air” and “sharp inside the box” with a good capacity to link up with teammates around the box.
Gian Piero Gasperini saw something special in Retegui and put his faith in him as a starter in Atalanta. They are now chasing the Serie A title, with Atalanta currently third in the league table.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/hyOPnwc