Man Utd in ‘CRAZY three-way operation’ to sign striker

Manchester United’s desire to sign a new striker in the transfer window is seeing them explore every possibility before it closes.

Viktor Gyokeres, Victor Osimhen and Mathys Tel are just some of the forwards that Man Utd have tried to sign, but now they are looking at adding Stuttgart hitman El Bilal Toure to their ranks in what FootMercato describes as a “crazy three-way operation”.

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The 23-year-old is a leftfield possibility for United. He has been missing with a broken foot since November having started the season with promise at the Bundesliga club, scoring three goals in 13 appearances, including the winner against Juventus in the Champions League.

Toure is only at Stuttgart on loan from Atalanta, which makes a transfer all the more difficult to complete.

However, the Bundesliga side could exercise their purchase option for the player for €18 million and subsequently sell him to Man Utd for €25m excluding bonuses.

But the complications don’t stop there. United would then loan Toure back to Stuttgart for the remainder of the season.

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El Bilal Toure to Man Utd: Three questions raised

The operation to sign Toure does pose three significant questions.

Firstly, Atalanta signed the Mali international to replace Rasmus Hojlund only for the player to disappoint. United could see history repeat itself if Toure were to flop against at Old Trafford.

Secondly, the Red Devils would be paying a fee significantly higher than the player’s Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €9.5m, suggesting they are spending too much on the centre-forward.

More immediately, the deal would not solve the club’s current problems in attack, where both Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee are struggling to score the goals that Amorim would expect of them.

At a time when United’s transfer policy is under question as the likes of Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo are threatened with moving on, the decision to sign El Bilal Toure on a complicated three-way deal looks a significant gamble.