Ineos successfully avoided making a huge transfer mistake at Manchester United last summer.
Manchester United added five new signings to the squad last summer and Ineos were flawless with their recruitment. Around £200 million was spent and it was Joshua Zirkzee who arrived to bolster the attack.
In January, the budget was much smaller and United signed Patrick Dorgu and Ayden Heaven, with the latter arriving on a bargain £1 million deal from Arsenal.
There were reports that Ruben Amorim wanted a striker in January and United were linked with Mathys Tel before the move was hijacked by Tottenham. With Zirkzee viewed as a No.10 and Rasmus Hojlund struggling, a new striker will certainly arrive in the summer.
Ineos will be glad they avoided Tel, and they will also be happy they snubbed one specific striker deal last summer too.
Ineos avoided signing £100m striker flop at Man United
Last summer, Ineos were focused on improving United’s defence and the only attacking signing made in the past 12 months was Zirkzee.
United were strongly linked with Evan Ferguson last summer. He was 19 years old at the time and struggling to get minutes at Brighton.
The young striker has been a long-term target and United’s £50m bid for Ferguson was “laughed off” by Brighton in 2023.
That is because Ferguson was valued at £100m by Brighton, yet they allowed him to join West Ham on loan in the winter window for the remainder of the 2024/25 season.
Since his move to London, things have not gone to plan for Ferguson. In his eight appearances for the Hammers, he has failed to score a single goal.
Despite being reunited with former Brighton manager Graham Potter, Ferguson has struggled to even get into West Ham’s team and his performances have been underwhelming.
Evan Ferguson’s chances of joining Man United are over
During United’s links to Ferguson, several reports suggested the young striker was more than open to the move.
Ferguson idolised Wayne Rooney growing up and he has openly admitted that he was a Manchester United fan during his youth.
Not only did he like Rooney, but Ferguson admired United’s star strikers over the Sir Alex Ferguson years, with the Irish forward naming Dimitar Berbatov and Danny Welbeck as inspirations.
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At one point it seemed extremely likely that Ferguson would be making a move to Old Trafford after his incredible breakthrough at Brighton, but his disappointing form at West Ham suggests he still has plenty of work to do.
United will sign a striker this summer, but it seems Ineos have already created a three-man shortlist with Liam Delap, Viktor Gyokeres or Victor Osimhen the most likely to arrive.
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