Man Utd set ‘very special’ £25m forward as top target this summer, Ineos risk repeating mistake third year running

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Manchester United’s pursuit for a new striker has taken a new twist, but it could see a trifecta of mistakes made by the club.

It is no secret that goal scoring has been among the biggest issues for Ruben Amorim’s side since he took charge back in November, however, the same could have been said about Manchester United before the 40-year-old arrived.

Rasmus Hojlund has been regressing since last season for United, while summer signing Joshua Zirkzee has proven to be less of a striker and more of an attacking midfielder.

This has proven detrimental to United’s league position, sitting in a lowly 13th position without back-to-back wins yet after 30 games played.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
12	Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace	29	10	10	9	37	34	3	40
13	Man UtdManchester United	30	10	7	13	37	41	-4	37
14	TottenhamTottenham	30	10	4	16	55	44	11	34

United have scored just 37 goals in the league, which five teams have less than – all of whom are below the Red Devils in the league. United have underperformed their expected goals tally by 8.09 which shows how poor the finishing has been for the club.

Due to this, a new striker is among United’s top priorities this summer.

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Lorenzo Lucca now Manchester United’s top striker target

While names like Victor Osimhen and Liam Delap have been heavily linked with United, it has now emerged that Ineos have made 6ft 7in Italy international Lorenzo Lucca the top target this summer.

This is according to The Sun, which claims United have made Lucca striker target number one for this summer to give Amorim a completely unique option to lead his line.

Lucca has been listed as a £25m player, which is more than affordable for United, and he offers plenty for Amorim as a potential second-string striker, but as a starter, it would be rather underwhelming.

Lucca’s teammate, Maduka Okoye, has labelled him as being a “very special player”, while appearing on the Italian Football Podcast, with his qualities in the air and physically setting him apart from others.

Lucca idolises Zlatan Ibrahimovic and plays a similar game in many ways, given their physical profiles.

However, as interesting an option as ‘the new Peter Crouch’ might be, signing him would potentially see the club make a mistake for the third year running.

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Manchester United risk repeating mistake for third successive summer

Lucca plays for Udinese in Serie A, and this season has managed just 10 goals in 30 games, which is a record which does not fill us with any confidence that he will shine in the Premier League.

Strikers in Italy are very hit-or-miss in England, but for United, the past two summers have been purely misses.

United signed Hojund in 2023, with a goal record similar to Lucca’s this season (Hojlund scored nine in 32 games). This was widely seen as a mistake, yet in the summer of 2024, United went to Serie A again for a striker, with Zirkzee scoring 11 goals last season in the league.

Hojlund vs Lucca vs Zirkzee Serie A stats (last season in competition)

Ineos were only responsible for one of these deals, but it seems quite clear that the club should not be taking a risk on a player like Lucca this summer when back-to-back summers have seen Serie A strikers flop at the club, although Zirkzee looks likely to succeed as a number 10.

This would be different if United signed Osimhen, who is a true world-class striker, but Lucca looks destined to face the same struggles as his two predecessors, but could be a good option from the bench.