Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has been told to “break the bank” for Tottenham striker Harry Kane after the club failed to sign a suitable replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer.
The Dutchman has made respectable work of the current attacking options at his disposal, with the Red Devils winning five of their first nine Premier League matches, but a regular source of goals has been hard to come by.
United have netted 13 times in the league so far, with just one of those coming from Ronaldo, but former Red Devil Teddy Sheringham believes that having “no proper centre forward” to work with has made Ten Hag’s job even tougher this season.
Speaking to Gambling.com , Sheringham said: “They’ve not really got a proper centre-forward, have they? Ten Hag has got one of the hardest jobs in world football at the moment.
“He’s come in at United and is trying to get them all rowing in the same direction, but without a recognised centre-forward up there leading the line and scoring the goals I think he’ll find it difficult.
“He’s tried a few different players up there. (Anthony) Martial goes up there, (Marcus) Rashford and Ronaldo but none of them, in my eyes, are proper centre-forwards. The way I see it, they’re all players who are best off playing off a centre-forward.”
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Ronaldo recently achieved 700 career goals with his winner in the 2-1 victory over Everton on October 9, but the 37-year-old has shown this season that he is no longer the same goal scoring machine that he once was.
The Portuguese has endured a difficult campaign since failing to force a move away from Old Trafford, with Ten Hag standing strong on keeping him, yet leaving him on the bench for the majority of United’s fixtures thus far, with the likes of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial taking over responsibility.
But while Rashford has impressed with five goals and three assists so far this season, Martial is already recovering from his third injury in the current campaign, while neither player is a natural striker and consistent goal scorer.
That has led Sheringham to believe United should “break the bank” to sign Kane from Tottenham. The Englishman has scored in five straight Premier League games for Spurs and already has 10 goals and two assists in 14 games in north London this season.
The 56-year-old said: “If they’re going to go out and break the bank for someone, go out and get Harry Kane. He’s the type of centre-forward they lack, a proper professional, he leads the line and you’ll always get 100% out of him.
“He’s a proper player, so go break the bank for him. I know that’s going to upset the Tottenham fans but we’re talking about Manchester United, one of the biggest clubs in the world. They should be doing this sort of thing instead of spending money on players who only might do the job for you.”
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