Four lethal Harry Kane transfer alternatives Man Utd could consider this summer - including £60m wonderkid

Looking at four alternative forwards who Manchester United could be in the market for if Harry Kane stays at Spurs.
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It’s that time of the year when some good old fashioned transfer sagas begin to bubble away nicely, and one of the biggest “will he, won’t he” stories of the summer is likely to focus in on England’s captain, record goalscorer and all-round talisman – Harry Kane.

Manchester United are reported as his most likely destination should he decide to leave Tottenham Hotspur after all these years, but it’s some distance from being a done deal – and with a reported fee of at least £90m on his head, even if he’s willing to make the move, the money men at Old Trafford may find negotiations get a little too rich for their blood.

There are, after all, plenty of other positions that United need to fill, and Champions League-quality players don’t come cheap. We wrote up an in-depth scouting report on another possible signing, Ajax’s Jurriën Timber, yesterday, and he’d come in at over £40m, and a few more signings like that might see United find their pockets deep than their arms are long when it comes to Kane. So we’ve decided to look around Europe to find a few more high-quality alternatives who could come in should Kane stay put, or should his price tag spiral a little too much for the Red Devils’ liking.

Rasmus Højlund

The young Dane has already been linked with United this season and is one of the very few forwards playing at the top level in Europe who boasts a similar sort of skillset to Kane – as well as being a goalscorer, he’s adept at dropping back and holding up possession, allowing wide forwards to surge beyond him. He could easily develop into that kind of ‘quarter-back’ role that Kane plays so well, and it’s tempting to imagine him linking up with Marcus Rashford in much the same way that Kane works with Son Heung-Min at Spurs.

Højlund’s hype train gathered some serious steam around the international break when he scored five goals in two games for his national team – even earning a place in our mildly prestigious Wonderkid Power Rankings – but he’s failed to find the net in his last five games for Atalanta and has been benched for two of their last three Serie A matches, so the noise around the 20-year-old has quietened down a bit. Reports suggest that Atalanta want around £60m for him, so he wouldn’t exactly come cheap, either, but if he continues his career trajectory he could easily look like a bargain down the road. Very few forwards can do everything Kane does – and while Højlund isn’t there yet, it’s easy to picture him getting pretty close.

Niclas Füllkrug

The 30-year-old German forward has been in a rich vein of goalscoring form this season, and tops the Bundesliga scoring charts with 16 goals, having hit 19 in the second tier last term with Werder Bremen. He’s largely played for Germany’s less glamorous clubs over his career – hitting double figures with Hannover 96 and 1. FC Nürnberg in the past – but is something of a late bloomer and has battled his way into the Germany team over the past couple of years.

Like both Kane and Højlund, he likes to drop deep and link up with overlapping wide forwards and plays much more like a number ten than a classic number nine, but still has the goalscoring chops to finish moves off as well. And thanks to his comparatively low profile and relatively advanced years, he would likely be much, much cheaper than Kane – Werder could be persuaded to let him go for around £12m, if Transfermarkt have guessed correctly. If the transfer fund runs thin, Füllkrug could represent a seriously impressive pounds-per-goal investment, and he’s only about four months older than Kane. If there isn’t a queue forming for his signature – and few rumours have emerged around him – then there really should be.

Jonathan David

Mentioned in connection with a move to Manchester ahead of the January transfer window, Lille and Canada striker David didn’t uproot any trees at the World Cup as many forecast, but has still racked up an impressive 21 goals in 31 Ligue 1 games this season, and only Kylian Mbappé is ahead of him in the French goalscoring charts. Still just 23 years of age, David is gradually coming into his own after a relatively sedate start to life in Lille.

Positionally he’s more of a fox-in-the-box striker than Kane or either of our previous suggestions, although he has played in a deeper role and as a wide forward, so he does have flexibility, and unlike any of the other players we’ve discussed he is blessed with absolutely blistering pace. A very different type of player, then, but one who is very likely to score a ton of goals and would probably come in at around the same sort of price point as Højlund. He’ll make a move to a big club eventually, and United may want to jump the queue.

Loïs Openda

Sticking with 23-year-old strikers who are banging them in over in France, Lens striker Openda has notched up 18 goals this campaign as his team bear down on a Champions League spot. Signing from Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem last summer – where he also had a big impact in front of goal, finishing as runner-up for the Dutch golden boot – Openda has recently been linked with a £30m move to Leeds United, although the chances of that happening would drop rather significantly if Leeds went down.

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A move to United may be a bit of a leap, but he would be an exciting addition to any Premier League side – equally at home playing as a wide forward as he is through the centre, he’s fast, a brilliant dribbler, and packs plenty of flair. If the long-term plan is to play Marcus Rashford through the middle, then Openda could be a superb supporting act, and wouldn’t break the bank. He’s lifted Lens substantially since his arrival, and could give United that little bit of extra spark that they crave in the final third.

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