Manchester United duo are causing Rúben Amorim a £108 million transfer headache

A Manchester United duo are causing Rúben Amorim a big headache as he contemplates adding reinforcements to his front line in 2025.

Manchester United are actively seeking to strengthen their attacking options as Rúben Amorim’s side continue to face struggles in front of goal.

This season, United have consistently fallen short in the final third, with most matches yielding no more than a single goal. Their lacklustre displays at Old Trafford have only amplified concerns.

With the futures of players like Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho uncertain while Antony is departing to Real Betis on loan, there is growing pressure on the club to reinforce their forward line during the summer transfer window.

Despite budgetary constraints, Amorim is expected to push United’s board to secure new attacking talent, aiming to resolve the team’s scoring troubles and bring fresh impetus to their offensive play.

United have a massive first-half scoring problem

United’s biggest attacking issue under Amorim is that United are failing to score first-half goals.

The club have failed to score from open play in the first 45 minutes of a fixture since a 3-2 loss against Nottingham Forest on 7 December, with their only first-half goal coming from Bruno Fernandes’ penalty against Brighton last weekend.

Even then, United went on to lose that fixture 3-1. They were unlucky to have a goal ruled out in the first half against Rangers after Matthijs de Ligt nodded in a corner after 35 minutes, but even if this had counted, the situation still looks dire.

A significant reason as to why United are failing during first halves is that almost all good performances from the club’s two first-choice strikers have come from the bench.

Both Rasmus Højlund and Joshua Zirkzee have impressed when coming off the bench during the seasons so far, but as soon as either player is handed a start as a result of their cameos, their form seems to drop.

In December, Højlund scored twice of the bench to secure United a 2-1 win over Plzen, but despite starting seven of the ten games since then, he has not notched a single goal.

Similarly, Zirkzee was superb when coming on against Arsenal and Southampton earlier this month. Still, his impact was minimal once he started against Brighton, and he was “non-existent” against Rangers on Thursday evening.

Amorim’ss £108 million transfer headache

Højlund cost United around £72 million from Atalanta in 2023, with Zirkzee commanding a £36 million fee one summer later, meaning United have spent £108 million on two first-team strikers across the last 18 months.

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However, with the lack of goals from both players a clear detriment to the team, Amorim now has the headache of trying to find himself and the club yet another striker this summer to help rectify the deficit from the £108 million duo.

Although there are several high-quality strikers, such as Victor Osimhen and Viktor Gyökeres, available on the market in 2025, the headache comes concerning the club’s transfer budget, which is almost entirely depleted due to profit and sustainability regulations.

United are reportedly close to selling Academy graduate Alejandro Garacho this month if one of Chelsea or Napoli cough up a bid worth £60 million, and are set to spend between £25-30 million on Patrick Dorgu in the coming days to secure him as Amorim’s first Old Trafford transfer.

However, the amount of money it would take to sign a player in the months that would help transform United’s attack looks hard to come by, no matter how much Amorim needs a new striker.

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