Recruiting a real striker is a difficult task with MU. And that makes every striker, whether poor or not respected, can become a transfer rumor to Old Trafford. Latest, Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson is named with the Red Devils.
Chelsea is probably very excited about this development. They have just written names in two new milestones: defeating Man United in the race to recruit Liam Delap, consolidate the fair with Joao Pedro, sell Christopher Nkunku to Man United himself and now put Jackson into the “exchange pack”.
Jackson was criticized fiercely after the red card at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025. In the first season in London, England was often compared to another “Premier League rookie”, Rasmus Hojlund. But that was enough for the reason to deceive Jackson from the list to recruit.
Man United cannot and should not consider “carrying” a striker who is no longer valid from Chelsea. They are also not really interested in Nkunku as Chelsea tried to create, and Jackson was less attractive.
Now, any striker, from famous to few people, can appear in the rumored categories of Man United. Dominic Calvert-Lewin is an example. Everton is ready to leave him in the form of freedom, but because Man United's attack is too lacking in choice, Calvert-Lewin's being mentioned as a possible plan has become unbelievably reasonable.
Except for bad Southampton, every Premier League club last season possesses more comprehensive strikers than Man United. Meanwhile, Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee show the ability to score extremely poorly.
These rumors are not entirely from Man United, but they make people think that Liam Delap is the only choice that this club really targets for the center. They were contacted with Viktor Gyokeres and Hugo Ekitike, but never took a specific action. Now, both are on the way to join the Champions League clubs, which Man United cannot provide.
Perhaps if he left Bilbao with the Europa League trophy in his luggage, Man United won Chelsea in the Delap deal. But the worst season in the past 51 years and not attending the European Cup makes them a difficult destination for high -class strikers.
Jackson has scored 30 goals after two seasons, a number is not enough to meet the requirements at Old Trafford. He is not an effective striker, and is not brave enough in important times. At the end of last season, Jackson had two red cards within 6 weeks. And between the two red cards, Chelsea promptly recruited two new strikers. It clearly shows that they want to get rid of him.
In the past, Man United was not afraid to recruit strikers “a booming season” like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani or Cristiano Ronaldo. But all have short shelf life.
The other strikers that MU brought back in recent years have problems. Hojlund is too young, Romelu Lukaku seems to be full of quality but ultimately still a “nomadic” striker. And Radamel Falcao and Anthony Martial are both disastrous failures.
And Man United has a history … accepting any striker. Although the Wout Weghorst Borrowing deal in January 2023 may have a reasonable reason, but bringing it to a coach's fellow striker, causing conflict in Burnley and playing in Türkiye, really too forced. Weghorst scored the number of goals for Man United exactly as the number of goals he had for Burnley, only 2 goals from the ball cushion.
The Weghorst deal reminded people of the Odion Ighalo on the last day of the January 2020 transfer period. Ighalo was playing in China at that time and had a representative of nationality with coach Ole Gunnar Solskjær.
Ighalo and Weghorst are both brought back as “extra” options for Anthony Martial. And putting faith in Martial is one of the countless reasons why Man United fall into the current state.
Most recently, in January of this year, Man United had considered recruiting Mathys Tel, a young striker who rarely played in Bayern Munich and almost no goals. It is difficult to understand that the Reds always tend to be attracted by “redundant” players.
From the Ighalo and Weghorst deals, it can be said that any striker has a little contact with Portuguese football, so he should tell the representative to call Amorim immediately. In danger, Joao Felix, a Portuguese player, is still the unmarried property of … Chelsea.