Forget Timo Werner - Man Utd's next lethal goalscorer is right under their nose

Given their woes in front of goal, the relentless squeeze from Financial Fair Play and countless reckless splurges that have become synonymous with the Glazer ownership, Manchester United’s number one transfer target should seem obvious. Just eight Premier League goals across the frontline highlights the gremlin eating away at the Red Devils’ season.

Marcus Rashford has failed to step up while Anthony Martial continues to rot, reinforcing his tag as the club’s unrealised talent. Remember when people billed him as the next Thierry Henry? How foolish they all look now.

Rasmus Hojlund continues to earn praise for his graft but he lacks guile. One top-flight goal to his name was hardly what Erik ten Hag expected when he persuaded Old Trafford chiefs to fork out £75million.

Alejandro Garnacho is coming of age in a poor United team but, in truth, he plays more as a creative player than someone to pin your goalscoring hopes on. The fact Scott McTominay is the club’s top bagsman in 2023-24 is an indictment of how deep-rooted the problem lies.

Having no predatory striker or, avoiding that, a wideman like Mohamed Salah who nets 25 goals per season, is never conducive to a successful team. As it stands, there is a dissonance between United’s frontline, with whoever Ten Hag picks to lead the line looking like strangers.

Reports have suggested Man United are targeting Timo Werner, the Chelsea flop struggling to resurrect his career since returning to Germany. Astonishingly, the striker is yet to complete an entire 90 minutes in an injury-hit season at RB Leipzig.

His Chelsea stint was calamitous, with the Blues sticking him on the wing before ultimately cutting ties altogether - at a fraction of the price. The Red Devils should look away from Werner and sign a player tearing up the Bundesliga, rather than living off his past hype.

European heavyweights are keeping tabs on Serhou Guirassy, the Stuttgart sensation who is giving Harry Kane a run for his money. Until recently, the 27-year-old was outsourcing the England captain, netting 17 times in 14 league games.

The worst-kept secret in football is his £15million release clause which became active on January 1. What are United chiefs waiting for? Fans have watched on as their club broke the bank for Antony, Mason Mount, Hojlund, Andre Onana and other questionable signings.

That quartet alone cost £260million alone - why not spend a fraction of that on Europe’s most in-demand striker? Signing Guirassy would detract some of the burden from Hojlund, with the youngsters struggling to adjust to English football.

While he still boasts a physical presence, a trait Ten Hag seems fixated on for his strikers, Guirassy offers a different option, playing more as a predatory phenom inside the box. Even if the move failed, £15million would not bring the headache other United mishaps have caused. They could probably sell him at a profit.

The low-risk, high-reward approach has been shunned at Old Trafford in the transfer market, with has-beens and never-weres the preferred flavour. Signing Guirassy would go some way to correcting that policy and, who knows, could just inspire a second-half-of-the-season resurgence.