Rasmus Hojlund
The 20-year-old is now United's principal striker target. Erik ten Hag held video calls with Hojlund in May and the United football director John Murtough has spent an extensive amount of time with Atalanta officials discussing a possible deal, as well as a potential loan for Mason Greenwood in the opposite direction.
It has not been publicised yet but agency sources say Hojlund is now effectively represented by Kees Vos, who is also Ten Hag's agent. Vos has already overseen the transfer of Zidane Iqbal out of United to FC Utrecht, having taken over the representation of the Iraq international in May.
Harry Kane
Originally Ten Hag's preferred target, United have gone cold on Kane amid discouragement from Tottenham, still adamant he will not be sold to another Premier League club.
United shortlisted attainable alternatives to Kane as early as March and anticipated resistance from Spurs chairman Daniel Levy in April. Come May, they were entering the transfer window under the assumption Kane was a no-go.
Also read: Ten Hag wants to sign a second forward after a striker
However remote the possibility of Kane going to United is, the club are still monitoring his situation should there somehow be a shift from Spurs. Kane, 30, has entered the last year of his Spurs contract and scheduled to report for pre-season training next week.
Randal Kolo Muani
Hojlund and Eintracht Frankfurt frontman Muani were listed in the next tier of strikers by United after Kane and Victor Osimhen. Muani is now regarded as the back-up option to Hojlund should United fail to secure a breakthrough with Atalanta.
Muani, 24, is in a similar position to Hojlund in that he is also under contract until 2027 but his club is not in the Champions League. That immediately lowers the valuation of Muani, a France international whose compatriot Christopher Nkunku, 25, has just left the Bundesliga for the Premier League for a reasonable £52m.
Victor Osimhen
Osimhen, 24, is the priciest striker on the market after he spearheaded Napoli's first Serie A title triumph in 33 years. Napoli have obtained their highest fees for strikers (Edinson Cavani in 2013 and Gonzalo Higuain in 2016) and Osimhen's valuation is well into nine figures. Napoli owner Aurelio de Laurentiis would arguably be a greater adversary than Levy.
Osimhen is a budget-buster and that is the sticking point with any interested club. It has been suggested Napoli inserted release clauses into certain players' contracts that are related to the revenue of the club that is keen on signing the player. United's total revenue for the third quarter was £170m.
Goncalo Ramos
More of a cursory mention, Ramos caught Ten Hag's eye when Benfica ejected Ajax from the Champions League in the round-of-16 in 2022 when he played behind Darwin Nunez. Ramos, 22, plundered 30 goals in 51 games for Benfica and Portugal last season and became an overnight sensation with a hat-trick in the round-of-16 thrashing of Switzerland at the World Cup.
Ramos was briefly close to joining Southampton last summer. From Championship to Champions League, whenever Ramos does leave Benfica it will be for one of Europe's elite.
He is only contracted to Benfica until 2025 but the Portuguese champions are the continent's premium sellers; there have been seven nine-figure transfers in the game's history and Benfica banked two of them for Joao Felix and Enzo Fernandez.
