With the international break almost over for United, there is still talk about transfers as Ruben Amorim looks to bolster his squad ahead of next season.
As ever, there's always a lot of links around our club a couple of which are Hugo Eikitike of Eintracht Frankfurt and Francisco Trincao of Sporting Lisbon. The club have been linked with them in recent weeks and more news has surfaced regarding these two players.
German journalist Florian Plettenberg says that "Eintracht Frankfurt are aware that Manchester United are seriously considering Hugo #Ekitike as a potential transfer target for the upcoming summer. #MUFC
Eintracht firmly expect his departure, as reported. #SGE are demanding €80m."
Plettigoal adds that rivals Arsenal and Liverpool are also looking at the Frenchman with Juventus keeping an eye on him as well.
This comes not long after Plettenberg reported that MUFC were linked with him (as well as several other forwards) during this recent break. Rasmus Hojlund is a striker under pressure given his below par performances this season resulting in the club and Amorim searching for that new front man.
That price of €80m (£67m) is a little much in my opinion because this is his breakout season and he isn't a household name besides. This is no disrespect to Ekitike and he clearly has talent, but I really can't understand these prices. United were asking for around the same for Garnacho in January and do we rate Ekitike as highly as him?
I guess in this market (and with the United tax) we shouldn't be surprised at such a value.
The 22-year-old striker has 19 goals and 8 assists this season and is among the top scorers in the Bundesliga.
As for Trincao, talkSPORT say that "Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim is targeting Sporting winger Francisco Trincão as a key part of his squad overhaul this summer" via UtdXclusive.
The Portuguese winger was another who was linked with the club not so long ago. Given that he's at Sporting and Amorim managed him at Sporting and the two of them are Portuguese, it feels like a no brainer to do this deal.
That right-wing/right wing-back position is one that we know we need improvement on considering the poor form of Diogo Dalot. While Noussair Mazraoui can also play in that position, he isn't at his best down the flank as he looks more settled as part of the back three.
The 25-year-old has 9 goals and an incredible 15 assists for Sporting which shows how much of a team player he is to his side. We know that at United we can be quite individualistic especially down the flanks so a player like Trincao makes absolute sense. Our striker will welcome the site of a winger who actually looks to cross the ball.
These wing-backs are so important to Amorim's system which is why we've been struggling a little going forward as we just haven't been able to find the solution to the wing-back problems. Patrick Dorgu is new and still developing, Dalot has been shocking and Mazraoui is better deeper. We need a player who knows that position and knows exactly what the manager wants.
Other advantages of having Trincao in our team is that he isn't injury prone and he's also got Premier League experience as he played for Wolves in the 21/22 season.
What I like about Eikitike and Trincao is their ages. 22 for the French forward and 25 for the Portuguese winger. That is more the age we should be looking at instead of the young potentials. We signed enough of those with the likes of Chido Obi, Ayden Heaven, Dorgu and more. We need players who can come into the team now and make an impact not one in the future.
Their ages is also not too old meaning that they still have a lot of football ahead of them.
Speaking of younger players, head of United's academy Nick Cox has been talking about the MUFC boss Ruben Amorim saying what an "approachable" person he is and that he is a "supportive character" at Carrington.
"It’s through Jason Wilcox, Darren Fletcher, other members of the senior leadership team and Ruben's staff, so it's organic working. There's got to be a healthy collaboration of debate.
"When it comes to sending a player across, there’s a back-and-forth between Ruben and his staff, and Darren Fletcher is a leading voice" via UtdDistrict.
We've known how good Amorim can be when it comes to youngsters. It's one of the main pros when thinking about him becoming United manager. Another thing about him is that while he is a manager who gives youth a chance, it's only if he deems them good enough.
Amorim has chosen his moments to select them in the team or squad rather than just throw them in because everyone is asking for it or that they're so highly rated. Even in this recent period of injuries, he was reluctant to put them in the team.
But I like this that the communication between him and Nick Cox is really good and clear. This creates a good understanding and relationship between the manager and head of academy meaning that the transition between academy to first team can be quite seamless.
We also see Amorim watch the academy at times which shows his interest in the young talent we have, which is a hell of a lot. I've no doubt that we will be seeing more of them in the future.
Background Images: Hugo Ekitike is a top target for Man Utd's striker position | Photo by Helge Prang/Getty Images via Get German Football News
Francisco Trincao | Image credit: Getty Images via Goal
Ruben Amorim and Chido Obi | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)