Why sign Krstovic? Ten Hag already has his Weghorst for 2024

Robin Bairner

• 17 Nov 2023 10:03 GMT
• 4 min read

Manchester United are reportedly ready to move for Lecce striker Nikola Krstovic during the January transfer window in a transfer that would echo their deal to sign Wout Weghorst on loan a year earlier.

Weghorst proved a huge flop when it came to replacing Cristiano Ronaldo at Man Utd’s No.9, failing to score a single Premier League goal during his time at Old Trafford, while a deal to sign Serie A’s worst striker in Krstovic would likely have a similar dubious outcome.

If a physical centre-forward is the route that Ten Hag wants to go down, he would be advised to look for options in his own squad as opposed to wasting precious resources on dud players he somehow hopes will come good.

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Surely it is better to take a risk on a player already on Man Utd’s books than frittering money on a deal with further potential to embarrass the recruitment team?

And Ten Hag does have one option in his panel that could fit the bill.

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McTominay worth a shot at centre-forward

Step forward Scott McTominay, who continued his blistering scoring form for Scotland by netting against Georgia in Euro 2024 qualifying on Thursday. McTominay might have caught the headlines in the aftermath of the match by branding his opponents “crying babies”, but with seven goals in the qualifying campaign, he is tied with Harry Kane and Man Utd teammate Rasmus Hojlund in second in the top scorer charts.

Of course, no one should expect McTominay to fill in a centre-forward role permanently at Old Trafford, but he offers a cheap option until Sir Jim Ratcliffe has his feet firmly under the table and a proper recruitment plan in place.

There are, after all, similarities to the 26-year-old and Weghorst. He poses the type of physical threat that Ten Hag likes in a No.9, carries menace in the air, is a hard worker and has shown impressive confidence in front of goal in recent months.

McTominay, crucially, also has experience as playing centre-forward, having done so for Manchester United’s reserve team.

Given Man Utd’s pinch in the position, deploying him in an unconventional role is an idea worth exploring.

There are 10 games left for United to play in 2023, and if Ten Hag can get a fit enough midfield to allow him to push McTominay forward to get minutes in the position before the end of the year, it is an experiment that will aid his thinking prior to the January transfer window.

He can’t be any worse than Weghorst.

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