Manchester United have reportedly cast their eyes in the direction of Patrick Schick, with focus on bolstering the centre-forward position as the club look to rise up the ranks in the Premier League.
This is according to reports stemming from Spain, which chalk Schick’s name onto the list of candidates to take Cristiano Ronald0’s role in the side, after the legendary Portuguese forward came to a mutual agreement with the club to terminate his contract in acrimonious circumstances in November.
Offensive “genius”
United’s issues in attack have been laid on the table for all to see this season, with Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford the only two established players capable of adopting the role.
Rashford has been in blistering form under Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag, scoring 12 goals and serving four assists from 23 outings across all competitions, but his most bounteous rewards are found when out on the left flank, while Martial has only scored eight Premier League goals since the beginning of the 20/21 campaign.
Last season was when the £94k-per-week Schick was thriving with form to rival any forward across Europe, with the 35-cap star recording an average rating of 7.26, as per Sofascore, exhibiting physicality and a clinical nature with aplomb, captivating with the sheer regularity of his net-breaking strikes.
Indeed, plying his trade for Bayer Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga, the £26m-rated striker scored 24 goals from 27 league appearances – outscoring Erling Haaland’s 22 strikes – but he has fallen wide of the mark this term, netting only three times amid Leverkusen’s struggles; the club languish in 12th place after 15 matches, albeit with three wins on the trot.
United will be hoping he can emulate his feats of last season if technical director John Murtough can indeed instigate a transfer, combining the cogs to unleash a formidable machine against Premier League defences.
Despite the Czech forward’s current woes, a change of scenery might well spark the fire back in his belly, with his feats over the past several years evidence that he can prosper among any division, and bypass any defence.
Nearly signing for Juventus in a £26m deal in 2017 before failing his medical, the 26-year-old “genius” – as dubbed by Jaroslav Šilhavý – has indeed since gone on to successfully test his mettle against some of football’s finest backlines, and he would certainly flourish in a United team on an upward trajectory and holding a rekindled flame to alight their offensive drive.
Source: footballfancast.com
