Erik ten Hag confirmed that landing a new striker is his priority this summer.
An admission which came shortly after Manchester United fans had playfully serenaded England captain Harry Kane with chants of, ‘We’ll see you in June’.
Tottenham ace Kane acknowledged he’d heard the song at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday as United opened up a two-goal lead before eventually drawing 2-2.
And United boss Ten Hag — who has Kane and Napoli’s goal machine Victor Osimhen in his sights — later opened up on the importance of signing a new centre-forward in the upcoming window.
“Yeah, I think everyone knows,” he said when asked if a new No.9 will be his priority. “It’s not a secret that over the whole season we had a shortage of No.9s.
“First, we had the dropout of Ronaldo, then Antony Martial was often not available, Jadon Sancho was often not available, then you have a shortage of frontline players.
“With less players we have to cover many games, so definitely we need in the frontline players who strengthen the squad.
“You can approach that from many ways. The typical No.9, Rashford can also play very good as a No. 9 and Anthony Martial is a great No.9.
“We have players who can play in that role but, definitely, we need some offensive players who are really impact players, quality players, who improve the frontline.”
Rashford has been prolific this season with his excellent strike against Spurs his 29th in all competitions at club level, by far his best return.
That total includes his run of eight goals in seven games post-World Cup and, whoever United do bring in, fans will be salivating at the prospect of having a new goal-getter and Rashford banging them in.
Ten Hag added: “We worked on Rashford as a No.9.
“He can do both — it depends on the opposition, which role is the best fit.
“It’s also the formation that’s important for him, to bring players around him and especially to bring players in the back from him in the formation, where he can make combinations and make movements.
“He’s doing that very well and I’m happy and satisfied with his role.
“But, also, when he’s playing from the left he has a big impact on our games.”
Ten Hag and United will hope he can have a big impact on Aston Villa today in a game that, against the odds, has become a battle for a Champions League spot.
Unai Emery has transformed Villa since taking over and, if they beat United at Old Trafford today, they will move just three points behind Ten Hag and his men, albeit having played two games more.
A Europa League spot is a much more likely target for Villa but they will dare to believe if they beat United — something Ten Hag knows they are capable of after Emery masterminded a victory against them in his first game after replacing Steven Gerrard.
The Dutchman said: “We met him in the first game and he surprised us.
“We were low energy levels so we have to avoid that, but he surprised us with the system.
“Three days after, we learnt a lot from that game and we bounced back and had a good win over them.
“This will be a tough game, we’re totally aware of it, this team made good progression.
“But it’s up to us, if we’re ready for the game, we have the right energy levels, with the right focus, at Old Trafford with the fans behind us, then we know we have a good chance to win this game because we know we are very strong.”
