Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag may be questioning the club’s transfer strategy after being left with few options in Wednesday night’s disappointing home draw with Leeds.
Manchester United’s 2-2 draw against Leeds prevented them from closing in on Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag may be questioning the club’s transfer strategy after being left with few options in Wednesday night’s disappointing home draw with Leeds.
Throughout the January transfer window, the only first-team signings were Marcel Sabitzer and Wout Weghorst, with Jack Butland filling in as the third-choice goalkeeper.
Prior to the start of the transfer window, United had been heavily linked with a big-name striker following Cristiano Ronaldo’s acrimonious departure from Real Madrid. Ten Hag had previously managed without the Portuguese superstar, who had been demoted to a rotation role earlier in the season.
Even with Ronaldo at the club, but especially after his departure, there was a clear need for more reinforcements in attack. Cody Gakpo was heavily linked, but Liverpool swooped in ahead of United to sign the forward.
United was then reported to be tightening their purse strings in January in order to save money for the summer. Ten Hag was relegated to the loan market, while Weghorst was signed as the central attacker.
The move was initially hailed as a good business decision because the Dutchman has impressed everywhere he’s gone – with the exception of a brief stint at Burnley at the end of last season. With the striker off the pace against Leeds, he’s clearly struggling to adjust to life back in the Premier League.
Ten Hag has had to rely on Weghorst more than he would have liked with Anthony Martial still recovering from fitness issues. He has yet to score or have much of an impact in any of his four Premier League games, and that does not appear to be changing anytime soon.
United have been saved at times by the impressive form of Marcus Rashford, who has recently taken over in attack. And he scored again just minutes after Weghorst was substituted against Leeds.
Ten Hag, on the other hand, will not want to rely solely on the England international to save United and would prefer to have a central striker capable of finding the net on a regular basis. United’s manager will now have to wait until the summer for the club to keep their word and sign a world-class striker.
But, based on Weghorst’s performance against Leeds, Ten Hag may have a long wait between now and then.