Man Utd blasted for not signing ‘guarantee’ Harry Kane as club legend tells ‘struggling’ Rasmus Hojlund they ‘can’t afford to wait’ for him and must sign new striker in summer transfer window

England captain Kane saw a big-money move to Old Trafford speculated on across several windows during his time at Tottenham. No deal was ever done, with Spurs reluctant to do business again with a Premier League rival.

United, as a result, were forced to explore other avenues. They invested £72 million ($92m) in Rasmus Hojlund when luring him away from Atalanta in 2023, but have seen the 22-year-old Dane register just 23 goals through 78 appearances – with only 12 of those efforts coming in the English top-flight.

Joshua Zirkzee is another forward that has failed to deliver on expectations, with five goals recorded on the back of a £36.5m ($47m) transfer, and United continue to count the cost of not pushing harder for Kane – who has maintained a stunning strike rate since linking up with Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.

Former Red Devils defender Gary Pallister, speaking in association with cardplayer.com, told GOAL when asked what the recruitment priority for United needs to be in the summer of 2025: “A centre-forward! [Ruben] Amorim has said that himself.

“We need a centre-forward. I don’t think Zirkzee is a centre-forward, he likes to play in the 10 and a bit deeper. I don’t think he can lead the line. Rasmus, you can’t fault him for his effort – he puts a shift in, runs into channels. He’s finding it hard. He needs a bit more guile to his game.

“We can’t afford to wait to see if Rasmus is going to be the real deal. It’s a struggle for him at the moment and we need somebody that can come in and is a proven goalscorer. Who that is, I’m not quite sure. There has been talk of the guy at Sporting [Viktor Gyokeres], the guy at Napoli [Victor Osimhen].

“I think they definitely missed a trick not signing Harry Kane a season-and-a-half ago. We knew he was a proven goalscorer in the Premier League and with what they have been wasting of late, he would have been an absolute guarantee of scoring goals.”

Only five sides – who all sit below them in the table – have scored fewer goals in the Premier League this season than 14th-placed United (33). There is clearly work to be done in the final third, but funds appear to be in short supply as Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the INEOS part-ownership implement more cost-cutting measures.