Manchester United’s interim boss Ralf Rangnick has said what needs to happen before Manchester United can compete with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City.
Rangnick’s side have slipped to sixth in the table in what has been a wretched season at Old Trafford.
Liverpool and City are clear at the top of the table.
In order to catch up with them in the future, the German has suggested that the Red Devils need to add a few more world-class forwards to their roster.
“If you look at Liverpool and Manchester City they have five or six top-class strikers,” Rangnick told the Evening Standard, as cited by HITC. “Gabriel Jesus, until four weeks ago, hardly played [for City]. Now he’s playing again regularly. You look at the number of players they have and if you ask me is he playing as central striker or winger? Is Jack Grealish a winger or striker?”.
“They’re all strikers and can play in different positions. They can also switch, they can rotate. Those kinds of players, we don’t have that many,” he added.
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As United are in a similar position to age-old rivals Arsenal – who are also looking to close the gap on the Premier League’s top two – you’d have to expect for the Gunners to adhere to his message as well.
Plans are already in place for Mikel Arteta’s side to do exactly that, with the aforementioned Jesus right at the top of Edu’s summer priority list.
The Gunners will target two centre-forwards when the window opens.
London understands that Jesus and Roma frontman Tammy Abraham are among the shortlisted profiles who could arrive at Emirates Stadium.
Jesus in particular remains open to leaving the current Premier League champions, with his representative reportedly holding talks with Edu throughout the past few months.
Arsenal first made enquiries for Jesus in November, with Edu maintaining a close relationship with the player’s agent and the City forward himself.
Jesus could get more minutes between now and the end of the season as City look to increase his potential transfer fee, with the Gunners expected to lodge a bid in the region of £35million this summer.
It’s still the beginning of a long project at the Emirates, but the Gunners are heading in the right direction.
United look a little bit further behind, but the appointment of Erik ten Hag is also a credible statement of intent moving forward.