The damning truth behind Man Utd's striker problem as Ruben Amorim faces big transfer call
The damning truth behind Man Utd's striker problem as Ruben Amorim faces big transfer call
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Manchester United claimed an important Premier League win at Fulham on Sunday night, but strikers Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee had very little to do with it. Summer signing Zirkzee scored the only goal of the game when the teams met back in August, but this time it was Lisandro Martinez who won it for the Red Devils. Martinez's deflected strike was United's only on-target effort across the 90 minutes at Craven Cottage, though they did have a second goal disallowed after Amad strayed offside.
"I think so, even in the second half we changed things and we lack some pace and power in front, but it is what it is," United head coach Ruben Amorim told TNT Sports after the win. "We need to have more ball to have more chances. We struggle a lot in these details. Winning helps us a lot to improve.".
Across 1,953 combined minutes in the league this season*, Hojlund and Zirkzee have just five goals between them. Here, Mirror Football attempts to get to the bottom of the pair's struggles as Amorim is left wondering whether he needs more options up top.
In this season's Premier League, there are 36 players with more goals than Hojlund and ZIrkzee have between them. Two of those - Aston Villa's Jhon Duran and Brentford's Kevin Schade - have achieved the feat despite playing fewer minutes than Hojlund (Duran has also played fewer minutes than Zirkzee).
There's a wide range of players in that list. Some are in the Hojlund ball-park when it comes to transfer fees, with Kai Havertz and Dominic Solanke among them, while a few more - including Matheus Cunha, Brennan Johnson and James Maddison - commanding fees closer to the £36.5m United paid Bologna for Zirkzee.
