Man Utd’s tempting transfer shortcut for Golden Shoe candidate would repeat Ighalo error

Manchester United need an in-form striker, but Erik ten Hag’s side must avoid the January transfer trap of moving for Serhou Guirassy of Stuttgart.

With 15 goals so far this season, Guirassy stands second in the Golden Shoe standings behind only Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane, with the Englishman having been a target for Man Utd in the summer before he switched to the Bundesliga side.

The France-born player has netted more goals than anyone else, including Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham and Mohamed Salah.

But Man Utd must avoid falling into the trap of signing one of the hottest strikers on the continent for a myriad of reasons.

Such a transfer would smack of the club trying to take a shortcut in the transfer market, the kind of which incoming minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is trying to avoid.

In Guirassy’s decade-long career as a professional, he has never previously shown this level. Indeed, his total of 16 goals in all competitions this season is already his personal best, while 5 league strikes surpasses anything he has managed before. This is only his third season scoring double figures in league football.

Of course, this may not be a flash in the pan and he may prove prolific during the next three or four seasons, but the odds seem to suggest that this is merely a particularly hot streak of form he is on.

On top of this, he is nearly 28, which is hardly over the hill, but it does suggest that his time at the top may be restricted to just two or three more seasons before he begins to decline. Guirassy is not a player, therefore, that Man Utd are likely to plan long term with. Again, this goes against Ratcliffe’s aims.

Finally, there is the more practical consideration of January’s Africa Cup of Nations. Guirassy’s Guinea side have qualified for the finals, meaning that if United were to move on him, he would be unable to play until the final week of the month at best.

A repeat of the Ighalo trap?

Man Utd have been here before. Rewind to January 2020, when additional cover was required in attack. The Red Devils looked to Odion Ighalo, who had been on fire in the Chinese Super League, scoring 31 goals in his previous 45 appearances.

The Nigeria international even arrived with some Premier Leage pedigree from his time with Watford, yet he came up woefully short at Old Trafford, failing to score in 12 league games before ultimately being moved on to the Saudi Pro League, where he found conditions more to his liking.

Even at a price of €17.5 million, which is reportedly his release clause, he would be overpriced according to FootballTransfers’ Estimated Transfer Value. According to the algorithm, he is worth somewhere in the region of €7.5m – less than half of the figure in his release clause.

Guirassy seems like a tempting move due to the form he is on with Stuttgart, but in reality, he is the type of transfer shortcut that will only get Man Utd into more trouble.