Manchester United are now hoping to add more faces to their squad after wrapping up their first signing of the summer in the form of Mason Mount.
United, less than a week after reaching a breakthrough in negotiations with Chelsea, confirmed Mount's arrival at Old Trafford on Wednesday morning, announcing that he had put pen to paper on an initial five-year deal. United are understood to have agreed a deal worth £60million, with £55m of that sum being paid up front.
The Reds, due to the complex issues surrounding the takeover situation, are having to be smart and strategic in this summer's window, even though they are acutely aware that they need to add to Erik ten Hag's squad. The Dutchman had made signing a new midfielder one of his leading priorities and now that objective has been achieved, United are looking to make progress in other areas.
As reported by the Manchester Evening News, football director John Murtough is now locked in talks with Inter Milan to sign goalkeeper Andre Onana and Atalanta for the services of Rasmus Hojlund. United have now got the bit between their teeth and want to speed up their recruitment process.
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That, however, is not to say that ongoing discussions will lead to both players rocking up at Old Trafford. Transfer discussions are complex and can take up weeks just for them to come to nothing. The Frenkie de Jong saga last year proved that.
But looking at the situation hypothetically for just a few minutes, the prospect of United getting deals over the line for both Onana and Hojlund would all but complete the club's summer recruitment drive. They approached the window with two main objectives: sign a younger midfielder and a world-class striker.
The addition of Mount to the squad has completed the first of those two objectives and the prospect of Hojlund checking in at Old Trafford would complete the second. United were not originally planning to sign a first-choice goalkeeper, meaning that has thrown an extra spanner in the works.
However, the failure to so far reach an agreement with David de Gea over a new deal, forcing United into swooping for Onana, will work to the club's advantage in the long-term. Ten Hag, following his arrival at the club last summer, started his reconstruction of the squad, drafting in the likes of Lisandro Martinez, Casemiro and Antony for big-money fees.
Martinez and Casemiro excelled in their first season at Old Trafford, forming a key part of the spine of the team. Martinez was nothing short of outstanding alongside Raphael Varane in the heart of the defence and Casemiro slotted into midfield with ease.
Mount is expected to tuck into midfield in place of Christian Eriksen, adding an extra injection of quality and some much-needed youthfulness. That leaves only the No.1 and the No.9 positions in need of work to complete the overhaul of the spine of Ten Hag's strongest XI.
Should United secure Onana's signature, he would fill the void that has been vacated by De Gea and provide the distribution and quality in possession that the Reds have been lacking in a goalkeeper. The Cameroonian is one of the best in the business when it comes to a goalkeeper requiring his feet and he will be another upgrade that strengthens the spine of the XI.
At the other end of the pitch, Hojlund is now looking like the most likely candidate to fill the No.9 spot. He has already held talks with Ten Hag and he is understood to be an attainable option this summer, even though reports elsewhere in recent weeks have suggested that Atalanta will demand an eye-watering fee.
At just 20 years old, Hojlund has the potential to be a future star, though he remains raw at this current juncture. But in the event of United extracting him from Atalanta, him hitting the ground running and improving year-on-year, he could dominate the No.9 role for more than a decade.
He would complete the spine of the team, joining forces with the signings of Martinez, Casemiro, Mount and possibly Onana made under the Ten Hag regime. The Dutchman, though he has been backed financially, has overseen a brilliant job moulding it all together so far, and he is now seemingly close to assembling his dream XI.
Should deals for Onana and Hojlund be secured, you could say it's mission accomplished, though United will never stand still and accept what they have. Nevertheless, Ten Hag has almost completed his initial rebuild and getting it done within three transfer windows would be a roaring success.
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