Man Utd ‘willing to spend’ up to €90m to sign deadly striker Ten Hag ‘obsesses’ with to replace fading force

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is reportedly ready to do whatever it takes to sign RB Leipzig striker Lois Openda in 2024, as he claims to have become obsessed with bringing the player on. Belgian goalkeeper arrives at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils have struggled all over the field this season, the lack of goals a worrying aspect of their poor performances so far. Indeed, Manchester United have scored just nine goals in eight Premier League games, with only seven teams scoring fewer so far.

And while summer signing Rasmus Hojlund has adapted relatively quickly to his new surroundings, Marcus Rashford’s loss of form in front of goal, as well as the continued efforts of those around him in line attack, continuing to annoy the United coach.

Indeed, Martial and Rashford have each scored just one goal so far, a worrying statistic that has seen midfielder Casemiro become their top scorer to date.

Martial’s contract at Old Trafford is due to expire at the end of the season anyway, leading to growing speculation that his time at Old Trafford is coming to an end. To that end, a report earlier this week suggested that Ten Hag is willing to risk losing Martial for free as the Red Devils boss considers whether to offer him a new deal.

However, in reality, Martial rarely brought his A-list form to Manchester United, as this player was considered a lackluster force by Ten Hag. Now in his ninth season at Old Trafford, Martial has only broken the 20-goal barrier once a season – and that last happened in the 2019/20 campaign.

Man Utd make Lois Openda a top target in 2024

As a result, it is little surprise to see Ten Hag scouring the market for would-be replacements.

Indeed, despite spending a fee of up to £72m to bring in Hojlund over the summer, Ten Hag is now preparing another major spend on a top-drawer attacker in 2024.

To that end, reports in Spain claim Ten Hag is ready to make Leipzig sensation Openda his No 1 target to come in and replace Martial.

The Belgian striker only moved to the Bundesliga outfit over the summer, on a €46m (£40m) move from Lens.

However, he has started his career with Leipzig in red-hot form, scoring five times in 10 games, including four in six Bundesliga appearances. He also has two assists to his name, meaning Openda has a goal contribution every 1.4 appearances so far.

His time at the Red Bull Arena could prove to be a brief one, though, if Ten Hag gets his way.

And according to reports, the 20-times English champions are ready to back the Dutchman with big money to help bring Openda to Old Trafford.

Indeed, it’s stated Ten Hag is ‘obsessed’ with signing the 23-year-old as Martial’s replacement and is willing to go as high as €90m (£78m) to land his man. That fee would see Leipzig almost double their initial investment on the player in less than a year.

However, Ten Hag reportedly sees the price as money well spent and is ready to make Openda one of his top transfer targets over the next two windows.

United are also in the market for a new centre-half next year, although they hope to offload Harry Maguire first and amid claims a January move to West Ham could be rekindled.