With Gakpo gone, who should Man Utd sign to replace Ronaldo?

Karan Tejwani

Updated: 23 May 2023 08:56 CDT
4 min read

Manchester United announced in late November that they had mutually agreed to terminate the contract of Cristiano Ronaldo. Now attention is fully focused on who will replace him at Old Trafford.

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Ronaldo’s future at the club was always in doubt after his unsanctioned interview with Piers Morgan where he criticized the structure, Glazer family, Erik ten Hag and more.

He had wanted to leave the club all summer and the agreement was finally reached last month, with the player now free to join any club he wishes from here on.

READ: Ronaldo pushing for shock Real Madrid return

Now, United are on the hunt for a replacement during the January transfer window, so who could they sign to succeed the Portuguese star?

Who will replace Ronaldo at Man Utd?

Not surprisingly for a club with deep pockets like Man Utd, a string of possible Cristiano Ronaldo replacements have been mooted:

Cody Gakpo (PSV)

We now know that it will not be Gakpo, barring some kind of disaster befalling his proposed move to Liverpool (the Reds agreed a fee with PSV on Monday evening). Cross the Dutch World Cup star off the list.

Victor Osimhen (Napoli)

Osimhen has been linked with a move and is liked by Ten Hag, but a move for him may only be possible in the summer given the price and Napoli’s resistance.

READ: Cristiano Ronaldo: Every major club's transfer stance

Benjamin Sesko (Red Bull Salzburg)

Ten Hag has also admired RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko, who is on loan at Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg having seen him shine with them last season.

He is young and fits the profile of what Ten Hag would want but he may not come in cheap and given his relative lack of big-game experience, it may be a gamble

Cristiano Ronaldo is to leave Manchester United by mutual agreement, with immediate effect.

The club thanks him for his immense contribution across two spells at Old Trafford.#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) November 22, 2022

Brian Brobbey (Ajax)

Ten Hag also wanted to sign Brian Brobbey, his former Ajax forward, in the summer but a move didn’t work out as he ended up returning to the Dutch champions instead.

The manager may go back in for him and given the good relationship they shared and the possibility to improve him, Brobbey may be tempted.

Goncalo Ramos (Benfica)

Goncalo Ramos has emerged as one of Europe's most exciting young strikers in 2022-23 for both club and country.

He has been the spearhead of a Benfica team that is flying at home and in Europe, while he hit a hat-trick at the World Cup against Switzerland for Portugal.

Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus)

Dusan Vlahovic was close to moving to the Premier League with Arsenal in January 2022, but he opted for Juventus instead upon leaving Fiorentina.

Vlahovic has not had the best of times at Juve and is now being linked with another transfer in 2023. Both Man Utd and Arsenal again have been linked.

Other potential Man Utd striker targets

There have been other players linked as well, such as Brentford’s Ivan Toney and Lille’s Jonathan David, but a transfer is not looking too likely for either.