Man Utd 'missed a trick' by not moving for Aston Villa man, says pundit (original) (raw)

Pundits have questioned why Manchester United did not pursue an Aston Villa signing to improve their forward line.

The Red Devils have brought in Raphael Varane from Real Madrid and England winger Jadon Sancho this summer. They will slot in at centre-back and right wing respectively, after costing a combined fee of £114million.

However, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has failed to sign a new centre-forward. Edinson Cavani remains his first-choice striker, although the Uruguayan is now 34 and no longer represents a long-term solution.

Frenchman Anthony Martial is also at his disposal. The 25-year-old convinced Solskjaer to play him more centrally last term but went on to score just four Premier League goals in 22 appearances.

talkSPORT pundits Jamie O’Hara and Alex Crook believe Danny Ings should have been hunted by more top six clubs, including United.

O’Hara got the ball rolling by saying: “I just look at Danny Ings and think why is like an Arsenal not coming for you?”

Crook added: “I would flip that around and say have Manchester United missed a trick when it comes to Danny Ings? 30m pounds, someone who has scored goals in the Premier League, scored a wonderful goal for Aston Villa last night.

“Are you telling me that Danny Ings isn’t an upgrade on Antony Martial? And he wanted to go to Manchester City or Manchester United, that was his preferred destination.

“Yes I know he’s had injury problems, he’s probably coming into the twilight of his career but you don’t get a lot for £30m these days and that would have been an easy deal to be done.

“I just wonder if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s blind faith in Antony Martial could be his undoing this season.”

Villa signed Ings from Southampton earlier this month after he entered the final 12 months of his contract at St Mary’s.

He got off to a great start in the West Midlands, scoring a penalty on his debut against Watford.

The Englishman then bagged a goal of the season contender in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Newcastle.

Neville questions Man Utd transfer strategy

Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville believes the Red Devils should be going after Harry Kane this week.

The Tottenham talisman has signalled his desire to leave north London in search of major honours.

Rivals Man City have been heavily linked, but the former defender thinks Solskjaer’s team should enter the fold.

“They’ve always gone after the best player in the Premier League, the best English player, the best British player historically,” he said.

“Why are they not going in for Harry Kane this week?

“Because if I think Harry Kane entered Manchester United you could get up to 90-95 points, without him [they won’t].

“They’re still going to have to replace [Edinson] Cavani and Martial next summer. Martial’s not going to do it, Cavani has only got one year left [on his contract].

“They’re going to have to buy a centre forward at some point. Why not get the man now and give Ole that impetus to get to that 90-point [target]. I don’t think they can with just Sancho and Varane.”