MU is still engrossed in finding a high quality “number 9” but after two failures in Serie A, the Red Devils seem to forget the existence of Mateo Retegui.
MU is looking for a new striker this summer after Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee only scored a total of 7 goals in the Premier League last season. Worth mentioning, both strikers were brought back from Serie A, thereby making MU's view of this tournament worse.
Coach Ruben Amorim publicly talked about the need to improve the attack. And the moves to recruit the duo attacked Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, who scored a total of 37 goals last season, were a clear sign that MU is prioritizing this aspect in the game.
MU has failed to recruit Liam Delap, who chose to join Chelsea. This can be considered as the only cheap deal among MU targets, including Sporting Lisbon's Viktor Gyokeres, Victor Osimhen of Napoli and Frankfurt's Hugo Ekitike.
All of the above stars will cost about 60-80 million pounds. Although recruiting the right striker this summer is a great priority for MU, it will cost a large part of the budget.
Therefore, when looking for cheaper alternative options with a proof scoring achievement, it was surprising that they spent very little attention to Mateo Retegui this summer. The 26 -year -old joined Atalanta from Genoa last summer and scored 25 goals in Serie A in his first season for the new team.
This helped Retegui won the Serie A top scorer, 6 goals more than Fiorentina's Moise Kean, and also helped him ranked 6th in the race of the European Golden Shoes. Only Kylian Mbappe, Gyokeres, Mohamed Salah, Robert Lewandowski and Harry Kane are the people on Retegui in the European football scoring rankings last season.
Moreover, Retegui “only” is worth about 51 million pounds, the number is clearly more reasonable in MU's solvency, although there are still 3 years in the current contract in the Bergamo.
Retegui has grown strongly under the guidance of coach Piero Gasperini last season, who praised his striker as “extraordinary”. “Retegui had an extraordinary season,” Gasperini said. “He scored with his right foot, his left leg, with his head, thanks to the contribution of the whole team. His goals decided our season.”
Atalanta will play again in the Champions League next season, but Gasperini has left the coach position. The successor Ivan Juric would really want to keep Retegui staying at the club, but this could be the right time for a change from both sides.
At the age of 26, Retegui is at the maturity of his career. The strongest point of the striker who used to play in Argentina was the ability to finish – MU always desires. The only problem is that the bodybuilding, the fitness of Retegui is not too prominent, the barrier can make him difficult to adapt in the Premier League.
However, with the mandatory to bring a “number 9” to score, at least create a presence in the penalty area, MU needs Retegui rather than Retegui needs MU. And if you liquidate both Zirkzee and Hojlund, the Red Devils will have a budget to recruit Retegui this summer.
