7 goals in 7 games, striker Man Utd could have signed for free exposes bad choices with stunning hat-trick

Add as preferred source on Google

Manchester United’s lack of goals is a major issue with the lack of finishers holding the team back.

The numbers are pretty horrific this season for Manchester United in front of goal in the Premier League.

• Just five goals scored in seven matches
• Three of these five goals came in one game
• Failed to score in four of the last five matches

And then you turn to the recruitment. A combined £100 million has been spent on Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee, who have just one league goal combined.

Marcus Thuram was available for free

Manchester United should reflect on a missed opportunity to sign Marcus Thuram on a free transfer in summer 2023.

BILD reported in 2023 that Manchester United were watching Thuram as his contract at Borussia Moenchengladbach wound down.

Inter Milan made the move in the end, signing Thuram to a five-year deal, with Manchester United paying £64 million for Rasmus Hojlund.

“Manchester United thought they needed a different kind of player,” Fabrizio Romano said when explaining the club’s decision not to pursue a move for Thuram.

But did it really need to be ‘either or’?

United’s glory years were always been based on having multiple strong attacking options, and adding a more experienced yet still young-enough player like Thuram for free, could actually have helped Rasmus Hojlund.

Thuram leads Serie A

Fast-forward to 2024 and Marcus Thuram is the current Serie A top scorer, netting seven goals from just 20 shots this season.

Thuram made it seven goals in seven games with a stunning hat-trick to fire Inter to a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Torino at the weekend.

Last season Thuram struck 15 goals – and then provided a further 14 assists, with Inter winning Serie A.

It was a big return for a player who arrived on a free transfer, and this season the Frenchman has gone from strength to strength.

Manchester United lack goalscorers, and bad decisions in the transfer market are further exposed when players who would not have cost a penny, show what they are capable of.

Ineos are getting a first-hand look at United’s lack of forwards, and they should be drawing the same conclusions – you can’t win games without goalscorers.