I had no doubts that Wayne Rooney would get back on the goalscoring trail for Manchester United. The forward is still only twenty-nine years old, so he’s definitely not over the hill.

So seeing the English striker firing in a hattrick against Club Brugge and helping his side through to the group stages of the Champions League wasn’t much of a surprise.

Yet those three goals don’t change the fact that United still need at least one more forward in their squad who can help with the goalscoring duties.

But the fact is that their chances of finding a ready-made quality attacker this summer and signing him are fast diminishing.

Possible new recruits; Mario Mandzukic, Paulo Dybala, Christian Benteke, Carlos Bacca and Jackson Martinez have all found new employers already this transfer window.

Spanish forward Pedro was seemingly the main target for the Red Devils but the former Barcelona man then turned up at Chelsea instead and has since made his impact with the Premier League champions.

With only five days remaining can United really make that marquee signing now?

Well it’s looking increasingly unlikely.

Two realistic signing targets could have been Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette but both pacey hit-men have recently agreed new deals with their current clubs. So I seriously doubt either will leave for United this summer.

Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has laughed off rumours suggesting he’ll soon be leaving Spain’s capital for England, so that one doesn’t look likely either.

Two long term targets for Man United have been Thomas Muller and Edinson Cavani. But a deal involving one of these pair doesn’t seem to be imminent. Can you really see Bayern Munich or PSG selling one of their top squad players this late in the window? Nah I don’t think so!

Louis van Gaal has allowed Radamel Falcao, Angel Di Maria and Robin van Persie to depart Old Trafford this season. To be fair to the United boss they offered very little last term. So I wouldn’t have sold all three until at least one replacement was found and signed.

This campaign is going to be different as they are expected to challenge for the league title this term and they are also back in the Champions League this year.

So that means the squad needs to be stronger and better this season, yet they still look a bit threadbare in the forward positions.

A bad injury for Rooney would be a nightmare scenario for Man Utd. His main back-up for the number nine position would be Javier Hernandez but the Mexican forward spent last season on loan at Real after falling down the pecking order under Van Gaal. Then there’s James Wilson, a talented young English striker but one who needs more game time and I doubt he’ll get that at Old Trafford. Wilson would be better off going out on loan for a season to be honest.

New Dutch signing Memphis Depay could step in from the wings and play through the middle, if needed. I think that could be his final position one day, but I doubt Van Gaal wants to see him there in a full time role duing his debut season in England.

Also is Wayne Rooney at his best when he’s deployed as the main striker?

I’m not fully convinced. Wayne and the United team seem to prosper more when he’s been in a starting eleven with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo or Van Persie in it helping with their instincts for goals and allowing Rooney to play off them as a second striker.

It really seems that Louis van Gaal and his board have hummed and hawed this summer and that has seen them with a squad that isn’t fully formed.

Can they challenge for top honours come May 2016? Only time will tell but without another forward in their pool they’ll make things a lot harder for themselves!

Posted on August 27th, 2015 by scott
Filed under: Article