It’s been a good news week for Manchester United.
Hot on the heels of the club’s official confirmation that they have signed Bryan Mbeumo, wants to them instead of his many other suitors.
United’s blunt frontline was a major contributing factor in their worst-ever Premier League finish last season, as the 15th-placed side mustered just 44 goals from 38 games.
Between them, Cunha and Mbeumo combined for 35 goals and 13 assists.
And then came the news not of another impending new arrival but rather that the lone bright spark of United’s 2024-25 season, captain Bruno Fernandes, has decided to stay, eschewing the eye-watering wages on offer from Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal.
But with around £120 million now already committed to the gs of Cunha and Mbeumo, and with a potential £100 million-plus windfall from Fernandes’ proposed exit off the table, United could struggle to raise further funds to secure a top-level striker to spearhead their new-look attack.
It was reported at the end of the last campaign that, having missed out on Champions League qualification after defeat to Tottenham in the Europa League final and hamstrung by the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules, the Red Devils would only have around £120 million to spend without major sales.
And so thoughts of adding a third star frontman to replace Victor Osimhen now much more difficult to execute.
Yet despite the desperate lack of goals from the centre-forwards currently at manager Ruben Amorim’s disposal, the ideal No.9 for his revamped frontline might already be in-house.
And the blueprint for his role was drawn up a short drive away along the M62.
Liverpool’s success under Jurgen Klopp came not with a deadly scorer at the forefront of their fearsome attack but instead, in Roberto Firmino, an intelligent connector whose creativity and link play brought the best out of those around him.
And Firmino’s workrate off the ball was a key facet of their trademark high press.
At Old Trafford next season, the same formula could be replicated, with Cunha – a supreme ball carrier, a diligent presser and scoring threat from anywhere within 20 yards of goal – in the Sadio Mane role.
And Mbeumo – a direct, powerful, high-scoring inside-forward – would occupy the Mohamed Salah spot.
In this scenario, the Firmino-style fulcrum would be Joshua Zirkzee.
The Dutchman was a £34 million g from Genoa last summer. Despite notching a dramatic late winner against Fulham in his debut back in August last year, the 6ft 4ins striker was not a regular scorer for United – just as he hadn’t been previously in Italy.
He scored only two more league goals the rest of the season, both of which came in a 4-0 victory over Everton in December.
He added four more goals across the domestic cups and Europa League for an underwhelming total return of just seven strikes in 49 games.
Yet that represented the third-highest single-season tally of his career so far. During his breakout campaign with Genoa the year before, he’d scored 11 times, an improvement from just two total goals the prior season.
And the former Bayern Munich youngster’s top return remains the 18 goals he scored from 47 appearances while on loan at Anderlecht in 2021/22.
With Cunha and Mbeumo either side of him, though, Zirkzee wouldn’t be required to be a volume scorer.
Instead, his ability to hold up the ball, his tendency to drift deep to create space for runners to advance beyond him and his one- and two-touch creativity would make him an ideal centrepiece around which the new attacking additions could operate.
This was the case with Firmino at Liverpool.
The Brazilian never scored more than 15 league goals in a season – which, ittedly, is still a world away from Zirkzee’s meagre return in his debut Premier League campaign – and failed to notch double figures for three full seasons in a row, including when the Reds won the title in 2019/20.
“I think he needs to be more selfish,” Amorim said of Zirkzee back in April. “And that is a thing when you play as a striker. He’s not a typical striker, but he has to be more selfish. He’s more aggressive now, he works better now, he’s defending better now, he’s connecting quite well.
“He played as a striker in some games, especially against Arsenal he did really, really well. Then in some games, against [Real] Sociedad, he played as a 10, so he can adapt to different situations. So I see that Josh is improving and showing good things.”
Amorim’s assessment of Zirkzee’s lack of killer instinct was apt back when he made it. United desperately lacked goals and needed their strikers to be more ruthless.
That appraisal no longer applies, though.
United’s impressive start to the summer window means Zirkzee could be a revelation by simply playing his natural game.
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