Manchester United face risk with wildcard solution to striker problem
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Man United are in need of goals up front but the latest name to be linked with a move to Old Trafford may not be the solution
Flamengo striker Gabriel Barbosa celebrates after his team scored
Flamengo striker Gabriel Barbosa celebrates after his team scored(Image: Wagner Meier/Getty Images)
Manchester United are in the midst of a striker nightmare this season.
Only Marcus Rashford has managed to score in the Premier League and new signing Rasmus Hojlund, who has three in the Champions League, has looked severely underserved since his arrival from Atalanta. No surprise then the Reds are thought to be evaluating options in the January transfer window to strengthen their forward line.
The latest name to enter the fray for the Reds though appears to be a wildcard solution to their issues. According to the Daily Mirror, United are weighing up the possibility of securing a swap deal with Flamengo which would see Antony going one way on loan for the remainder of the season and their striker Gabriel Barbosa arriving in Manchester.
While the idea of Antony having a short-term loan move back home shows plenty of sound reasoning, it is more than a risk to think Barbosa is the answer which United are looking for. This season, the 27-year-old managed a respectable 20 goals in 55 appearances in South America and his goalscoring record in Brazil speaks for itself.
However, as much as 139 goals in 246 appearances for his current club sounds promising, there is already evidence out there of his form not translating to European football. In a combined 15 appearances for Inter Milan and Benfica, Barbosa managed just two goals.
While this came at the beginning of his career and no doubt he has matured his game since then, it is a huge risk to bring in what is essentially an unknown quantity to solve the Reds’ long-standing issues up front. Look back to Wout Weghorst last season, he had pedigree in other European leagues but found it difficult to bring that form to the Premier League.
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January is notoriously a difficult window for clubs. Bargains are hard to find and teams largely have to spend through the nose for quality. But in terms of targeting Barbosa as a support for Hojlund, it might not be the right deal for United at this moment.
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