Erik ten Hag names two surprise Man United striker options after January transfer admission

Erik ten Hag has stated that it was ‘no secret’ that he wanted Manchester United to sign a backup striker in the January transfer market.

Anthony Martial underwent surgery last month, which will keep him out of action for around 10 weeks, and United only have Rasmus Højlund as a natural striker option in the squad.

Fortunately, the Danish forward is hitting form at the moment and scored another goal in the latest win against Wolves. However, Ten Hag admitted the 20-year-old needed to be subbed in the game after being ‘dead’ following an energetic display.

Marcus Rashford is another option through the middle, but he always seems to do his best work from the left side. He has five goal contributions in his last five games playing there.

Speaking after the game on Thursday, Ten Hag explained that he was unable to bring in an additional striker last month due to the Premier League’s financial restrictions.

“It’s not a secret, I wanted an extra striker because of the injury to Martial, we don’t really have a backup there,” he stated. “But it was not possible because we have to match the FFP rules.”

However, the Dutch manager now has close to a fully fit squad elsewhere and has admitted that he will need to get creative when Højlund needs rotating.

He highlighted two surprise striker options: Omari Forson and Amad Diallo, two young players more known for their work out wide but can both play centrally too.

“We have Omari [Forson], we have Amad Diallo, and, of course, Rashford can play there, but I think for the rest of the positions, we’re occupied,” he added.

“But we have to be a little bit creative when it comes to the striker position.”

Forson replaced Højlund against Wolves and assisted Kobbie Mainoo’s winning goal. It was good initial hold-up play by the teenager before passing off to Mainoo.

Amad has previously played centrally for United in a game against Wolves several seasons ago. He played as a ‘false nine’ and impressed.