With a striker currently on loan from Burnley starting week in, week out, it’s fair to say that Manchester United need to sign a new number nine in the summer.
And there are two standout candidates for the role.
One is arguably the best striker in the Premier League: Harry Kane.
The other is arguably the best striker in Serie A: Victor Osimhen.
To discuss which would be a better fit for Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United, Scott Saunders and Rob Blanchette from The Promised Land, part of 90min‘s podcast network, went through the pros and cons of each.
Is Harry Kane worth £100m?
Rob Blanchette: When looking at a player like Harry Kane, you’re looking at what your needs are now. There are a few positions of concern that, if you solved tomorrow, you immediately become title contenders.
People will say that £100m for Harry Kane is a lot of money…but Kane is still cutting it at the highest level and scoring at least 20 goals a season. If you can go a get a player who can hit those numbers for two or three years, in the current market, that’s good value.
I think if Kane came to Man Utd before the start of next season then I would be confident of a title challenge.
Would Harry Kane be a better signing than Victor Osimhen?
Scott Saunders: Regarding the idea that Harry Kane is ‘too old’: if was a striker that relied on pace and running in behind defences, or his physicality – like Cristiano Ronaldo – and you were signing him at 30 then absolutely that is a problem.
What makes Kane so good is his brain and, if anything – so long as he can stay injury free – he’s only going to get smarter. With more experience, he’ll know which roles to occupy.
The Marcus Rashford – Harry Kane partnership is potential gold. It’s essentially Kane and Son all over again but with a younger version [of Son]. Rashford will massively benefit from having a striker like that in the team.
I think Kane is the perfect kind of striker that Man Utd should be looking at. And I know people will be shouting for Victor Osimhen and, if United end up signing Osimhen then fine. But I think he’ll cost a lot more than Harry Kane, I think he’ll take more time to adapt than Harry Kane, I don’t think the fit is as natural, and I also think there’s a step up from Serie A to the Premier League – you can see it with Kalidou Koulibaly this season.
What makes players stand out in Serie A is invariably physical abilities which can take them above the rest of the league, and in the Premier League that’s a much more level playing ground.
They’re the concerns with signing Osimhen.
If Man Utd do sign Osimhen I wouldn’t have a problem with it, but Harry Kane is the one I’d pick.
