Dwight Yorke has urged Manchester United to ‘look beyond’ their rivalry with Liverpool and sign wantaway forward Darwin Nunez this summer.
Nunez is expected to leave Anfield at the end of the season following a frustrating season under Premier League-winning manager Arne Slot.
The 25-year-old, who Liverpool signed in 2022 in a deal worth up to £85m, has scored just five goals in the league.
Nunez has attracted interest from abroad but Yorke believes his former club Manchester United should enter the transfer race.
United have struggled in the final third this season with Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirzkee – who cost more than £100m – both underwhelming.
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Ruben Amorim has expressed interest in signing Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres and Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap but Yorke believes Nunez should be another target for the Red Devils.
‘I’m a big fan of his,’ the Old Trafford hero told gamblingindustrynews.com. ‘I think that I could understand why Liverpool would want to change him.
‘He’s not quite lived up to expectations and sometimes a new start might be a good thing for a player, rather than being there and just being another number and getting game time occasionally.
‘What I see is an individual wanting a platform to become the top man at the football club. He’s not going to get that with Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk and the other players who they have there.
‘I think for me personally if I was United, I know the Liverpool and the Man United thing is a bit of a rift there, but I look beyond that.
‘I look at the young man who has a good presence, who has a little bit of zest in him, who’s got all ingredients to be even better than what he’s actually producing at the minute.
‘He’s still at a good age. He’s now been in England for the last three years or so. He understands English culture.
‘What he’s expecting I think is a new beginning. If I were looking at him from the outside, that is somebody I would take upon to bring aggression. You’d be the top man or one of the top men at Man United.
‘If he wants to go there, you give me something. And I think he will score more goals at Man United than at Liverpool.’
It remains to be seen how much Amorim is given to spend this summer on new recruits.
Manchester United, currently 16th in the Premier League, have suffered an embarrassing domestic campaign but can end the season on a high by winning the Europa League.
Yorke believes a number of new signings are needed at Old Trafford and has also recommended a move for Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez.
Like Nunez, Martinez has been linked with a summer move and appeared to wave goodbye to Villa fans after the club’s final home game of the season.
Yorke insists ex-Arsenal star Martinez is ‘far better’ than Onana, who has endured an inconsistent season at the Theatre of Dreams.
‘It’s kind of a no-brainer,’ Yorke said when asked whether United should be looking at the Argentina World Cup winner.
‘Emi Martinez has been really exceptional for a number of years and again you could see why huge clubs would want him.
‘I mean Man United, I know they’re struggling, but even now you’d have to consider it because they’re such a huge club.
‘He wouldn’t just be bringing experience, but he’s a far better goalkeeper than Andre Onana, just going by the numbers.
‘I think for Onana, it hasn’t quite worked out, and everyone anticipated that he would have done well. But definitely, signing Martinez would be a huge coup for United.’
After facing Tottenham in the Europa League final, Manchester United conclude the 2024-25 season on Sunday against Aston Villa.
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