Forget Antoine Semenyo – Man United can sign lethal £45m alternative who adds even more threat

Manchester United haven’t been shy about adding to their attack so far this summer. Matheus Cunha has arrived, Bryan Mbeumo is expected to follow close behind him, and they will almost certainly be signing a new striker at some stage too. But at least one player that the Red Devils made enquiries about won’t be moving to Old Trafford – Antoine Semenyo.

United were among several sides linked with a move for the French winger, and according to transfer reporter Ben Jacobs had approached Bournemouth to determine whether he was for sale. The answer to that query is not clear, after Semenyo signed a new five-year deal that will keep him at Dean Court for the foreseeable future.

United, then, need to look elsewhere as they search for ways to add juice to an attack that scored fewer goals than every other Premier League team except for the relegated teams and Everton last season – and they may find their answer in an unexpected place.

Why Manchester United are said to be in the market for Moise Kean

Most Premier League fans will have mixed memories of Moise Kean. When he first arrived on the scene with Juventus, he was hyped up as the next big thing, a scoring machine in the making – then, not such a long while later, he was struggling at Everton.

Promise turned into frustration. A productive loan spell at PSG persuaded Juventus to buy him back, but he only managed 14 goals in 102 games in his second spell in Turin and was promptly shipped out to Fiorentina last summer. At the age of 24, he seemed destined to fall short of the bar he had been set by his own potential.

Kean clearly didn’t see it that way. He finally hit his straps in Florence, scoring 25 goals on the season and earning a recall to the Italy squad, for whom he has scored three times in his last seven appearances, including a brace against Germany in a thrilling 3-3 draw in the Nations League finals.

Kean, finally, looks like the player he was born to be – dangerous, incisive, quick and with the ability to take defenders on and beat them both and off the ball. The goals are flowing, and his confidence has returned. Everton must feel like a very long time ago.

Enter Manchester United. Recent reports from Italy suggest that they could make a move for the now 25-year-old striker and have even been in contact with his representatives to sound him out ahead of a potential bid.

They may have signed Cunha already, but the former Wolves forward has always been at his best playing a supporting role, in behind or alongside a more traditional number nine. Signing Semenyo would, perhaps, have compelled Ruben Amorim to push Cunha further forward than he might otherwise be comfortable with, but signing Kean could make rather more sense from a tactical perspective.

To make life even easier, United know exactly how much Kean would cost. He has a €52m (£44.5m) release clause in his contract, around £20m less than Bournemouth would have demanded for their man. The only catch is that the clause expires on 15 July. United need to make their mind up fast.

Moise Kean ready for a second chance at the Premier League

The big question, of course, is whether this is just PSG version 2.0, a second flash in the pan before a regression back to the mean. It’s a fair red flag to raise, but Kean’s play this season suggests a striker who has finally figured it out.

Playing in a more central role having often played as wide forward earlier in his career, Kean has finally started demonstrating not just impressive finishing skills (he got an impressive 45.9% of his shots on target in Serie A last season) but also the ability to find half a yard of space under almost any circumstances.

Defenders who try to take a step back find that he the combination of pace and quick feet to take the ball past them and into a shooting position regardless. Defenders who press up find that he can get in behind. And defenders who try to mark him tightly discover that he has the first touch and ability to step suddenly into better areas to work his way around them.

Kean is simply a player who has learned how to work himself towards shooting angles and away from defenders under almost any circumstances. There are better technical players out there, but few who can find space so efficiently. The result is a lot of goals.

That’s something which United sorely need. Rasmus Højlund has the physical qualities required to be a top striker but lacks the confidence or consistency. As long as Kean can maintain those – and he has had them in spades this season – then he would be a very fine signing.

He’s no target man, granted, but the way that United play under Amorim, with the intention (however rarely realised it may be) being that they have a fluid front three which can interchange and attack half-spaces between defenders from different angles. That should suit Kean nicely, as well as offering Cunha an effective foil.

Certainly, given a move for Mbeumo appears to be on track, it makes far more sense to aim for a central striker than a winger anyway. Semenyo is versatile but has generally played much wider at Bournemouth than he would have done in Amorim’s more compact system, and there are few guarantees that he would have performed as well in a new tactical structure. Kean should be more at home.

As yet, none of the reports connecting United with Kean suggest that they have made a formal offer – and they have less than two weeks in which to do so, unless they want to watch the price tag rise down the line. Kean’s second coming is an intriguing prospect and, if he can maintain his 2024/25 form in the long term, it would likely be a very fine signing indeed.