Lukaku and five transfers Man Utd could make to solve issue Rangnick pinpointed

FT Desk

16 Mar 2022 06:48 CDT
5 min read

Romelu Lukaku, Chelsea, 2021-22 — © ProShots

Ralf Rangnick blamed a lack of physicality for Manchester United's Champions League exit at the hands of Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.

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A first-half Renan Lodi header was enough for Atletico to win 1-0 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate, and it was put to manager Rangnick after the game that his side had been naïve.

"I don't know what you mean by naïve," he protested. "Against a team like Atletico, who are the champions of that style of football, it's not easy. You have to break through that wall somehow. We don't have the most physical of teams to break through walls."

Nemanja Matic, Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba and Edinson Cavani - to a man 6' or taller - entered the fray in the second half, but couldn't turn the tide.

So who might Man Utd look to in order to reinforce this aspect of their play?

Romelu Lukaku

Romelu Lukaku previously turned out for Man Utd between 2017 and 2019, scoring 42 goals and adding 13 assists in his 96 games before leaving for Inter Milan. A hulking bundle of muscle at 6'3", the Belgium international also has a fine turn of pace and a wicked left foot.

Lukaku may also be available as of now. Current club Chelsea have failed to get the best out of him in his second spell at Stamford Bridge, False 9 Kai Havertz impinging upon his minutes there. The club have also been sanctioned by the UK government amid Roman Abramovich's links to Vladimir Putin.

Chelsea cannot currently sell tickets or merchandise, putting them in financial peril.

Assuming that they are allowed to offload players by the summer, Lukaku is one they might be willing to cash in on while Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and others see their contracts expire.

Romelu Lukaku wants to return to Inter this summer, according to Gazzetta dello Sport ↩️ pic.twitter.com/gQsmBdQ7w5
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) March 13, 2022

Adama Traore

A forward who makes even Lukaku look like a welterweight boxer, Adama Traore would absolutely bring the kind of pace and power Rangnick might need at Old Trafford.

The La Masia-honed winger is only back at Barcelona on loan from Wolves this season, and United would fancy their chances of signing the 26-year-old from their Premier League rivals this summer, especially with Barcelona's hands potentially tied amid financial turmoil.

Robert Lewandowski

Nicknamed 'Robert the Body' by Marco Reus in their time together at Borussia Dortmund, Robert Lewandowski is another who would bring physicality to the forward line if he swapped Bayern Munich for Man Utd.

He may be up there in age at 33, but Lewandowski remains one of the fittest men in football, eating dessert before his main course just one of his secrets. It apparently works - Lewandowski has scored his 43 goals for Bayern this season at a rate of one every 73 mins he has played this season.

Oh, and he is out of contract in the summer...

Man Utd have contacted Robert Lewandowski's agent, according to Sport Bild 👀 pic.twitter.com/d9GY9KE17v
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) March 16, 2022

Harry Kane

Another complete striker, Harry Kane stands at 6'2" but has the guile of a much smaller man. A three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner, Kane also boasts the ability to link up play, and has pre-assisted many of his own 21 goals for Tottenham Hotspur this season.

One of the pre-eminent strikers in the game, trophy ware has thus far eluded England's No.9. Might he be tempted to end that drought at a club also without a title since in five years? Perhaps, if it means linking up with Cristiano Ronaldo.

"I asked for his shirt," Kane confessed after Spurs' meeting with Ronaldo's previous club Real Madrid in 2017. "He's a big role model of mine, watching him when I was growing up."

Erling Haaland

Last but by no means least, Erling Haaland could emerge as an option to lead Man Utd's line. The young Norwegian certainly has the physicality for it - 6'4"-tall but with the fastest top speed in the Bundesliga last season (22.39 mph) - and he would bring a goal rate of one every 72 minutes with him.

A move to Old Trafford could have been more likely with former Molde coach and father Alfie's friend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer still at the helm, but not many clubs can match the £500,000-a-week Manchester City are reported to be offering, and United might be one of them.