By Toby Prince
Manchester United missed out on a potential transfer for Spanish star Pedro from Barcelona with Chelsea moving ahead to trigger his £21m buy-out clause.
Despite flirting with the Red Devils, the 28-year-old chose London over Manchester to the disbelief of many United fans.
Louis van Gaal’s team has struggled for goals in the league thus far notwithstanding victories in their first two league games against Tottenham and Aston Villa.
They were lucky to win by a 1-0 margin on both occasions with goals coming from unlikely sources, a Kyle Walker own goal and Adnan Januzaj, highlighting how desperate the side needs an attacker.
Should United keep faith with its current squad as van Gaal claims by or seek refuge elsewhere?
The Red Devils shouldn’t sob any anymore about Pedro; here are three alternatives to the new Chelsea man.
- Alexandre Lacazette (Lyon)
French Ligue 1 top marksman in the 2014/15 season, Alexandre Lacazette notched 29 goals in just 33 appearances a little short of averaging over than one goal per game.
He also doubles as the 2014/15 player of the season in France, beating the much fancied Zlatan Ibrahimovic to the accolade.
Born in Lyon, Lacazette joined the club in 2003 as a 12-year-old and it took him seven years before making his senior debut for the club.
A natural goal poacher with a killer instinct, no wonder the comparison with another Lyon product Karim Benzema, the lad possesses similar features with the Real Madrid man.
So far he has shown impressive dedication to his hometown club, who he has now represented on 139 occasions since his debut in 2010, scoring 57 goals.
At just 24, the France international still has time on his side and could form a formidable partnership with Wayne Rooney, giving liberty to the Englishman to roam.
- Alvaro Morata (Juventus)
Sold to Juventus from Real Madrid for £14m in July 2014, Alvaro Morata came back to haunt his former club in the best way possible, scoring in both legs of Juve’s 3-1 aggregate victory in the Champions League semi-finals last term.
He was on the score sheet again in the final against Barcelona, but couldn’t prevent the Old Lady suffering a 3-1 defeat.
A Madrid breed, Morata played for the two Madrid clubs at youth level before settling for Real Madrid in 2008. In his four-year stint with the Galacticos, Morata still managed 10 goals in 37 appearances despite having limited starts.
He is a Champions League winner with Real Madrid and has been kited five times by the Spanish national team with a goal to show for it.
Although there hasn’t been much talk of a move elsewhere for the 22-year-old during the off-season, the arrivals of fellow attacking players Mario Mandzukic from Atletico Madrid and Paulo Dybala from Palermo has meant he has no guarantee of a start each week.
- Antoine Griezman
The second Frenchman on our roaster, Antoine Griezman could just be the last piece of the puzzle Manchester United is missing.
The Frenchman will provide width to the team as he is able to fit into any position in attack.
Born in Macon, France, Griezman joined Atletico Madrid from Real Sociedad in 2014 for a club record €30 million after developing rapidly in Sociedad scoring 46 goals in 179 games.
Under the charismatic Diego Simeone, Griezman impressed in his first season with 22 strikes in 37 appearances, meaning he averages more than one goal in two games, not bad for a player who play as an attacking midfielder.
It would require a mammoth sum for Atletico to let go one of her most priced assets considering they lost a couple of their stars last season, but in football, you can never say ever.
