Journalist pours cold water on Man Utd links to €120m striker and reveals Ten Hag ‘obsession’

Benfica striker Goncalo Ramos is “not necessarily right at the top” of Erik ten Hag’s striker wishlist at Man Utd, according to CBS Sports journalist Ben Jacobs.

The Red Devils are looking to add to their attack in the summer transfer window as the Premier League giants hope to ease the goalscoring burden on Marcus Rashford.

Man Utd did bring in Wout Weghorst on loan from Championship side Burnley until the end of the season in January after Cristiano Ronaldo mutually agreed a termination of his contract at Old Trafford in November.

But Weghorst and injury-prone Anthony Martial are unlikely to be part of Ten Hag’s plans moving forward and a number of strikers have been linked to Man Utd already, most notably Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen.

Benfica’s Ramos has been linked following his performances at the World Cup in the winter but Jacobs doubts he is near the top of Ten Hag’s list of transfer options.

Jacobs told Caught Offside: “Goncalo Ramos has been on a number of top club’ radars for quite some time – long before his World Cup hat-trick for Portugal in the 6-1 win over Switzerland. The Benfica forward is in excellent club form with 24 goals and 10 assists in all competitions.

“Ramos, who has a release clause of €120m, almost joined PSG last summer. But Benfica held out for close to €45m, which was seen as too high at the time.

“At the same time, several Premier League clubs looked with differing degrees of intent, including Manchester United, Newcastle, Leeds, Wolves, Southampton and Nottingham Forest.

“It’s no surprise therefore to see Ramos linked against with a move to Old Trafford. But Ramos himself has actually been expecting a new deal at Benfica. Rui Costa is yet to provide one. The 21-year-old would gladly stay another season for the right terms.

“Manchester United are looking at several strikers. It’s more a long list than a short list. As a result Ramos, a bit like Tammy Abraham, is there but not necessarily right at the top.

“Manchester United are still obsessed with Victor Osimhen, who almost joined them before moving to Napoli, but decided against it due to a lack of game time.

“Harry Kane has also been discussed internally, but it all still depends on the England striker. Spurs want him to extend and that had been Kane’s primary intention before Antonio Conte’s dramatic exit.

“As I have reported many times, it’s going to cost around £100m to get Kane and that’s still assuming Spurs are willing to do business. Daniel Levy simply won’t make things easy, and Manchester United know just how much of a thorn in their side he can be from when they signed Dimitar Berbatov back in 2008.

“Neither Kane nor Osimhen will be easy to get, and that’s where Ramos or Abraham might prove smoother to facilitate and cheaper, too.”

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