Erik Ten Hag: Manchester United boss says club 'working in background' to sign new striker in summer

Erik ten Hag is aiming to sign another striker for Manchester United in the summer transfer window.

United spent £72 million on Rasmus Hojlund to bring him in from Atalanta in the summer, and Marcus Rashford had scored 30 goals in the previous season.

However the Danish forward struggled to find the net for the first half of the season, Rashford’s form dropped off significantly, Anthony Martial has not been reliably fit, and Antony has continued to underwhelm.

As a result, United have scored just 45 goals from their league campaign so far, the lowest total in the top 10.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of Saturday’s game with Bournemouth on the south coast, Ten Hag was asked about bringing in an experienced striker in the summer.

The Dutchman said: "I think it would help. You need more options. You need double positioning in every position.

"Some positions we didn't have the choices this season - the striker position, the left-back position - and that has a negative impact on the results."

Ten Hag said he had expected Hojlund, Rashford and Martial to have done better this season.

"In this plan we constructed we should have had enough goals," Ten Hag said.

"You count on goals from Rashford - last season he scored 30. You count on goals from Martial - in my first season he played very well, and also in very important games he had a high impact on our performances.

"And then bringing a goalscorer like Rasmus Hojlund in, it should have been enough goals."

After Sir Jim Ratcliffe took a stake in the club, he has focused on bringing in new senior figures, with Dave Brailsford and Omar Berrada to be involved, while Jason Wilcox at Southampton and Newcastle United’s Dan Ashworth are reportedly targets to work on transfer business and other football matters.

Ten Hag said he would be open to working with new staff members when it came to signings.

"We are working in the background on plans with scouting," he explained.

"We have good plans, I think also with quality players. You see now about recruitment: [Andre] Onana is doing very well, Rasmus Hojlund, everyone is seeing his big talent and potential. [Lisandro] Martinez, everyone was hugely happy with him, and there are others.

"So the recruitment is good. But if they [new directors] have even better ideas, we are always open. If you have options but they come with better options, we are open.

"I trust the new ownership that they will work as quick as possible and bring new good structures and that they can execute.

"But we have a way we want to play, so we know our profiles, so it has to match the profiles we want."

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