Manchester United withdrew their interest in signing Marko Arnautovic yesterday but the damage has already been done. There was a suspicion this summer was becoming somewhat of a circus and the club's interest in Arnautovic was confirmation of that.
It is a disgrace that Arnautovic was ever considered at Old Trafford. Arnautovic, 33, was never close to being good enough for United at his best and he's now in the winter of his career after spending two years with Shanghai Port in the Chinese Super League. It is difficult to find something supporters can unanimously agree on but all supporters shared the same reaction to the Arnautovic links.
That reaction was disbelief, which evolved into anger. Cristiano Ronaldo wants to leave the club and United need to sign a centre-forward this summer, but the interest in Arnautovic had all the hallmarks of desperation - it was simply humiliating.
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The Manchester Evening News revealed yesterday that talks for Arnautovic had ended and it's understood that backlash to United's interest in Arnautovic is understood to be a contributing factor in the club withdrawing their enquiries, while Bologna's valuation of Arnautovic was also a stumbling block. United should not be signing Arnautovic even if he was offering to play for free.
There are now three weeks remaining in the summer transfer window. Ronaldo and Anthony Martial are the only recognised strikers at the club - the latter is currently injured - and it would be a disaster if United were unable to sign another centre-forward.
United were interested in signing Benjamin Sesko this summer but he's another target that they've failed to land. RB Leipzig confirmed the signing of Sesko from sister club RB Salzburg yesterday and United are running out of suitable centre-forward candidates.
The market for a prolific centre-forward is obviously competitive and United might have to get creative. Sasa Kalajdzic, for example, is not the profile of a player usually linked with a move to Old Trafford, but his credentials are better than most available.
Ironically, Kalajdzic is the type of player that Ralf Rangnick would target. Kalajdzic, 25, has entered the final year of his contract at VfB Stuttgart in Germany and he has been linked with a move to United, Chelsea and Everton this summer for a fee of around £20m.
The striker is an Austria international and he caught the attention of scouts when contributing 17 goals and six assists in 36 appearances in the 2020/21 season. Kalajdzic was sidelined for the majority of last season with injury, but he managed to score six goals upon his return to fitness, which wasn't an awful return in the circumstances. Kalajdzic also stands at a towering 6ft 7.
Erik ten Hag chose to play Christian Eriksen as a false nine against Brighton at the weekend and it was painful watching United's transitions. They weren't moving the ball quick enough and their possession around the Brighton area was worthless.
There was no player in the box capable of taking advantage of an opening and Kalajdzic is that player, as he would bring an aggressive presence to United. His key metrics from last season, despite his limited involvement, suggest he would be a shrewd addition.
Kalajdzic averaged 0.52 expected goals (xG) per 90 in the Bundesliga and that level of performance would have ranked him fifth on that metric in the Premier League. He would also rank second for headed shots in the Premier League, which is promising.
Kalajdzic was asked about his future at the weekend and he told DAZN : "I don’t know myself how my future will turn out but that will become apparent in the next few weeks or as soon as possible, but I can’t influence many things either."
United have three weeks to sign a striker and they could do worse than Kalajdzic.
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