Man Utd told to sign ‘world-class’ England star and replace £47m signing | Football

Manchester United have been advised to replace Andre Onana and bring in a ‘world-class’ England player to get the club back up to the upper echelons of European football.

United have suffered an alarming fall from grace since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 and currently find themselves just 14th in the Premier League.

The Red Devils won 13 league titles under Fergie but are miles behind the likes of Premier League champions-elect Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and even Chelsea.

Ex-Manchester United goalkeeper Tim Howard believes it will take ‘at least two transfer windows’ for current manager Ruben Amorim to both get in the players he wants and offload unwanted stars from Old Trafford.

‘I like him. I like his football knowledge,’ Howard told beIN SPORTS when asked about Amorim, who replaced Erik ten Hag as United manager back in November.

‘He understands what this squad needs and has a fundamental philosophy which was successful at Sporting Lisbon. Having success outside of England doesn’t guarantee success in the Premier League but I like him.

‘We can only judge him over the next 18 months because the squad needs an overhaul.

‘If you want United to get back into the Champions League, to win titles, these players are not good enough so they need some of them out the door and that will take at least two transfer windows.

‘There needs to be great changes in the playing squad this summer.’

One ‘possible’ change, according to Howard, is to replace £47m signing Onana following his mixed season at the Theatre of Dreams.

Onana was one of United’s better players in the first-half of the campaign, though that isn’t saying much, but the Champions League finalist has struggled of late, attracting criticism for some basic mistakes and wayward distribution.

‘Onana is pretty far into his development so you’re almost at the point of what you see is what you get,’ former USA goalkeeper Howard added.

‘Can it be refined? Sure it can. He can still make changes at this stage of his career. But that’s going to be a lot on the manager.

‘I think with Onana, I would possibly change him but I don’t think it’s top of the priority list.

‘If you get a really solid team in front of him then you can see if Onana can get better. But if not there’s a change there. From a priority point of view, it’s not up there right now.’

Perhaps Manchester United’s biggest concern is the lack of firepower up top, with Ramus Hojlund and Joshua Zirzkee scoring just five goals in the Premier League this season combined.

Bruno Fernandes and Amad Diallo are the club’s joint-top goalscorers this season with just six each.

Discussing United’s need for attacking reinforcements, Howard said: ‘I think you need to get a seasoned European striker.

‘If you get Harry Kane, that is a massive step to achieving the things you want to achieve at the top end of the Premier League.

‘Harry Kane is every bit a world-class striker. I think if we turn up on the first day of next season and Kane is in a United shirt then they’re well on their way.’

Kane scored more Premier League goals than any player in history barring Alan Shearer before leaving Tottenham to join Bayern Munich in 2023.

The England captain has enjoyed two productive seasons at the Allianz Arena, scoring an impressive 75 goals in 79 appearances.

Kane may at some point be open to returning to the Premier League as he needs just 48 more goals to surpass Shearer as the division’s all-time record goalscorer.

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