MANCHESTER UNITED attempted to bring Danny Welbeck back to Old Trafford for the second summer running, according to reports.
The Brighton striker, 34, was eyed as a striker target during Erik ten Hag’s final summer in charge.
That came in a desperate bid to try and fix the club’s goalscoring woes, which only got worse across the 2024/25 campaign as United scored just 44 goals – the 16th lowest in the division.
Consequently, Red Devils transfer chiefs backed current boss Ruben Amorim with a £200million strikeforce in the form of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko.
But early on in the summer, United had seriously considered making a move for a secondary striker after missing out on Liam Delap to Chelsea.
According to The Athletic, that striker in question was none other than former United star Welbeck – who spent 16 years with the club after coming through the academy.
The Carrington graduate was Brighton’s joint-top goalscorer last season with ten goals, and United felt he could add valuable experience.
United chiefs Jason Wilcox and Omar Berrada considered offering Welbeck a contract running to 2027 if they were able to agree a fee with Brighton.
However, Ineos chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe was hesitant to offer a two-year deal to a player who turns 35 in November, with a one-year plus-one deal being discussed.
Ultimately though, the offer was never formalised.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin was another option – as exclusively revealed by SunSport in July – who Wilcox felt could be a handy deputy.
But United refused to make an offer and the 28-year-old signed for Leeds.
The report adds that United also discussed Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo as an alternative option to Mbeumo.
However, the Cherries £70m valuation was deemed to be too high.
While results are yet to really reflect it, United have enjoyed an uptick in their attacking numbers this season.
Amorim’s side have recorded an expected goals value of 6.78, which is the highest in the Premier League.
Man Utd’s transfer deals
IN
- Bryan Mbeumo – from Brentford – £71m
- Matheus Cunha – from Wolves – £62.5m
- Diego Leon – from Cerro Porteno – £7m
- Benjamin Sesko – from RB Leipzig – £74m
TOTAL – £214.5m
OUT
- Alejandro Garnacho – to Chelsea – £40m
- Marcus Rashford – to Barcelona – Loan
- Victor Lindelof – released
- Christian Eriksen – released
- Toby Collyer – to West Brom – Loan
TOTAL – £40m
They have also hit the woodwork four times, at least twice more than any other team, while United are also the top dog for the most shots so far, with 14 more than second-place Chelsea in that metric.
But the main stat that matters is their goals scored, and in that they have four league goals.
Three of those were scored against newly-promoted Burnley in a game which needed a Bruno Fernandes penalty to win the three points in injury time.
United addressed some of their defensive woes on deadline day with the arrival of 23-year-old goalkeeper Senne Lammers in an £18m transfer from Royal Antwerp.
However, after the international break United will face three difficult tests.
The first of these will come in the Manchester Derby at the Etihad, before hosting Chelsea at Old Trafford and then visiting Brentford, who United have not beaten in London since 2022.
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