£80 Million! Manchester United's Desired Striker Priced at a Hefty Tag; A Major Squad Overhaul Needed to Sign Him
On January 4th, Beijing time, British media iNews' famous journalist Peter Hall updated the latest transfer situation between Sporting Portugal striker Zekai Rais and Manchester United. According to his report, Manchester United manager Amorim sees Zekai Rais as an ideal center forward and is eager to reunite with his former disciple. However, Sporting Portugal has set a price tag of £80 million, which means that if Manchester United wants to successfully acquire this tough player, they must first clean up their existing squad to raise funds.
After taking over Manchester United midway through the season, the ambitious Amorim led the team in 11 matches across various competitions, winning only 4 but losing a full 6, with a win rate of just 36.3%. Especially in the last 4 games, Manchester United suffered 4 consecutive defeats, putting Amorim on the hot seat. And it doesn't end there, because in the upcoming Premier League and FA Cup matches, Manchester United will face two strong opponents, Liverpool and Arsenal, and a six-game losing streak may just be a matter of time.
Currently, Manchester United's biggest problem is their lackluster offensive methods, with several frontline players' states failing to satisfy. In the last round of the Premier League, they suffered a humiliating 0-3 home defeat to Bournemouth, with forward Zirkze being substituted after only 33 minutes, but despite Manchester United's adjustments, they ultimately failed to score even a single goal. In this situation, despite facing financial challenges, Amorim hopes to strengthen the squad. Otherwise, this Premier League top club might really be relegated.
The 26-year-old Zekai Rais is the hottest forward in European football this season, without a doubt. So far, he has played 28 matches across all competitions for Sporting Portugal, scoring an astonishing 30 goals and providing 5 assists, including a hat-trick against Manchester City in the Champions League. And in the early hours of this morning's 17th round of the Portuguese Super League, the Swedish international once again scored a hat-trick, leading Sporting Portugal to a thrilling 4-4 draw away against Guimaraes.
Whether in terms of technical style or personal ability, Zekai Rais perfectly fits into Amorim's tactical system, and their previous collaboration at Sporting Portugal was also very pleasant. However, as a European black shop, Sporting Portugal will definitely not let go of their top scorer easily. On the latest German transfer market, Zekai Rais' valuation is 75 million euros. In other words, Sporting Portugal's asking price of £80 million is actually quite reasonable. But with Manchester United's recent poor financial situation, they almost certainly cannot afford this amount.
Therefore, to meet Amorim's transfer requirements, Manchester United will have to overhaul their squad during this winter window to raise funds. Except for a few players, most of the current squad are no longer untouchable. Rashford, Eriksen, Zirkze, and Lindelof are players the club is eager to offload. However, whether Manchester United can achieve a major reshuffle of their squad and regain their form remains unknown.