The ‘proven’ striker Manchester United should sign instead of Viktor Gyokeres or Victor Osimhen

Gary Pallister wants Manchester United to shelve their interest in Viktor Gyokeres and Victor Osimhen and prioritise an ambitious deal for the ‘ideal striker signing’.

Ruben Amorim has made a new striker one of his priorities for the summer transfer window after a desperately disappointing 2024-25 season.

His United side finished just 15th in the Premier League and failed to qualify for any European competition after losing a low-quality Europa League final to Tottenham.

Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee, who cost more than £100m combined, endured miserable seasons at Old Trafford and neither appear to be at the required level to lead the line for Manchester United.

Hojlund and Zirkzee have even been linked with moves away from the club this summer with the former believed to be keen on a switch to Inter Milan despite publicly declaring his intention to stay.

United’s pursuit of a new striker has led to transfer talks with Gyokeres, of Sporting Lisbon, and Osimhen, of Napoli.

But Old Trafford legend Pallister has reservations about Gyokeres and Osimhen and says his former club should instead go all out for Alexander Isak.

Isak has established himself as one of the best strikers in the world since joining Newcastle United in 2022, scoring 54 goals in 86 league games.

Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool have all been linked with moves for Isak over the past 12 months but Newcastle value the 25-year-old at north of £125m.

Isak would also need some convincing to leave Newcastle, who qualified for the Champions League last season and won the Carabao Cup, for a team that slumped to 15th in the table.

Alexander Isak the ‘ideal signing’ for Man Utd

Asked who Manchester United should target to solve their goalscoring issues out of Gyokeres, Osimhen and Benjamin Sesko, Pallister told Metro: ‘Alexander Isak. He’s the player that is proven in the Premier League.

‘Listen I’m sure he’s got teams in better state than United at the moment who would be in to sign him and Liverpool have reportedly declared interest in him so why wouldn’t you go there when they’ve been as successful as they have been? 

‘But Isak would be the ideal Man United signing for me. I think it so important that you’re proven in the Premier League because it’s different to all the other leagues out there.

‘If you’ve got a player who’s been there and done it, he would be the man for me. Manchester United definitely need a goalscorer.

‘Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee both struggled last year. I don’t think Zirkzee is an out and out number nine. There’s a few clubs struggling for that centre forward.’

Isak has another three years left on his current contract so Newcastle are in a strong negotiating position should rival clubs line up moves for their talisman.

Doubts over Viktor Gyokeres and Victor Osimhen

Gyokeres and Osimhen were two of the most prolific strikers in Europe last season but Pallister has doubts over both.

Ex-Coventry City star Gyokeres has scored an incredible 97 goals in 102 appearances for Sporting but is reportedly keen to join United’s Premier League rivals Arsenal.

That is despite enjoying a healthy relationship with Amorim, who he played under in Portugal before the manager left to replace Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford.

Osimhen also enjoyed a superb 2024-25 campaign, netting 37 goals for loan club Galatasary.

The Nigerian was close to joining Chelsea last summer but the deal collapsed and Osimhen was forced to explore other options after being exiled by Napoli boss Antonio Conte.

Conte has instructed Napoli to offload Osimhen on a permanent transfer this summer and the 26-year-old has rejected a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia as he dreams of playing in the Premier League.

‘I’ve not seen an awful lot of Osimhen to be honest with you,’ Pallister added. ‘It was a strange one with him going to Galatasaray but he’s scoring goals.

‘So many clubs were interested in taking him, but he ended up going there. That concerns me.

‘I saw Viktor Gyokeres at Coventry, he’s scored goals in the Championship and at Sporting but it’s a different kettle of fish playing in the Premier League.

‘Whichever way they wish to go, it’s going to be a bit of a gamble because they’re not proven in this league. 

‘Ruben has worked with Gyokeres at Sporting, so he knows him and if he was to bring him in then he’d have to be confident in the fact that he’s a fit for the Premier League. 

‘Ruben knows him well and hopefully he has a good insight into whether he could hack it in the Premier League but again it’s about getting him across the line.

‘He is supposed to be more interested in going to Arsenal and you can understand why. It is difficult times to bring in a proven goalscorer.

‘When people are looking at Manchester United at the moment, as much as the lure of the club and the badge is there, it’s a team that’s going to be restarted.

‘There will be a big reset at United in terms of the squad so players need to be happy coming into that.’

While Manchester United target new signings – they have already confirmed a deal for Matheus Cunha and are in talks with Bryan Mbeumo – they are also keen to offload a number of unwanted players from Amorim’s squad.

Rashford, Sancho and Antony should all move on

Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Antony have all been put up for sale and Pallister hopes they all find new clubs before next season.

Rashford is believed to be ‘dreaming’ of a move to Barcelona after spending the second-half of last season on loan at Aston Villa.

Sancho is keen to join Serie A champions Napoli following his loan spell at Chelsea, while Antony could take a pay cut to seal a permanent transfer to Real Betis.

‘It would be nice if it was all sorted and those three players did find themselves new clubs,’ said Pallister, who won four Premier League titles at Old Trafford.

‘I think Ruben Amorim has looked at those players and he’s quite happy for them to go. There are no real noises coming out from Old Trafford that they want them to stay.

‘It needs an overhaul in terms of the mentality and attitude at Old Trafford. You can’t finish fifth bottom of the Premier League.

‘That’s going to bring its own pressure next year, and you’ve got to have a team that’s going to fight tooth and nail every game and change the dynamic at Old Trafford.

‘We’re a figure of fun at the moment for a lot of people who are enjoying Manchester United being down where they are and suffering the way they are.

‘That’s something we knew that a lot of people wanted to see when we were playing there. You’ve got to use that to take strength from it and show people that you’re not going to be moved, and you’re still going to be battling for titles.

‘We need to find those characters within the dressing room too. That managed itself for a long period of time when I was there, because there were so many personalities and so many strong characters.

‘If standards were not good enough and players weren’t pulling their weight, they were certainly told. Maybe that’s not been the case so much recently.’

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