Man Utd told to re-sign former striker to fill in for Ronaldo
Suraj Radia
- 9 Aug 2022 22:03 BST
- 3 min read
Rio Ferdinand has given his recommendation to Manchester United for a backup to Cristiano Ronaldo in former striker Danny Welbeck.
Welbeck put in a strong performance for Brighton as they beat United in their opening game in the Premier League and Ferdinand believes the forward would have started for his former club had he been playing for them.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ferdinand said: “Welbeck walked out of that tunnel and you could see, shoulders back, chest out, thinking – ‘I will terrorise these two [Lisandro Martinez and Harry Maguire].
“That is how he played, he looked like prime-time Welbeck at the Bernabeu against Real Madrid 10 years ago.”
“He was a free in the summer because he didn’t have a contract. I’d have taken him. On today’s performance, no doubt. If you want a back-up striker, you would not go far wrong with Welbeck.
“Say to him, ‘you are going to play 15/20 games over the season, fill in for Cristiano’. It gives us the legs, gives us the movement – the running behind defenders like he did today and it frees up the space for the likes of Bruno [Fernandes].”
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United's struggles to secure a forward
Welbeck has scored 12 goals in 50 games for Brighton but has failed to net more than six times in the Premier League since his final season at United in 2013/14.
United are keen to sign a new forward this summer but have failed to secure any of their targets, while they also face a fight to keep their top scorer from last season in Ronaldo.
The Portuguese legend is desperate to leave United but the club are unwilling to sell him, particularly with no replacement on the cards after missing out on more of their striker targets.
United were in talks with RB Salzburg over a £55 million move for Benjamin Sesko but the teenager has agreed to join RB Leipzig next summer for less than £25m due to the partnership between the two clubs.
United had moved onto more affordable targets after spending the bulk of their budget on Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia and had a £7.5m bid rejected by Bologna for Marko Arnautovic.
The next target for Erik ten Hag's side appears to be PSV winger Cody Gakpo, with the 23-year-old rumoured to be available for around £35m.
