Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is keen on signing a striker in the upcoming summer transfer window.
The Dutchman initially believed that his team’s goalscoring options for this season “should have been enough.”
However, with just seven games remaining in the Premier League, United have scored only 45 goals, the lowest among the top 10 teams.
Asked at a news conference how vital it will be to bring a proven scorer to Old Trafford this summer, Ten Hag said: “I think it would help.”
Ideally, he wants more than one strong contender for each position on the team.
Ten Hag added: “You need more options. You need double positioning in every position.
“Some positions we didn’t have the choices this season – the striker position, the left-back position – and that has a negative impact on the results.”
Ahead of their clash with Bournemouth on Saturday, United secured Denmark forward Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta last August in a £72 million deal, signing him on a five-year contract.
The 21-year-old has proven to be a significant asset, emerging as the club’s top scorer in his debut season with 13 goals in 34 appearances across all competitions.
England striker Marcus Rashford has found the net eight times in 38 games, while France international Anthony Martial, sidelined since undergoing groin surgery in January, has scored twice in 19 appearances.
“In this plan we constructed we should have had enough goals,” Ten Hag said.
“You count on goals from Rashford – last season he scored 30. You count on goals from Martial – in my first season he played very well, and also in very important games he had a high impact on our performances.
“And then bringing a goalscorer like Rasmus Hojlund in, it should have been enough goals.”