Man Utd have £17m Plan B after Rasmus Hojlund swap deal hopes dwindle

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Manchester United may have a convenient and inexpensive alternative to Rasmus Hojlund who could then allow Erik ten Hag to sign an elite centre-forward next summer instead. Atalanta have rebuffed attempts by United to strike a more player-money swap deal for Hojlund and a direct cash deal will cost them up to £85m.

With United's financial limitations at the moment, Ten Hag will have to wait until several players have left to sign the Dane. And it may not be easy to offload them all with an offer for Fred from Galatasaray having been rejected as well below expectations.

The Red Devils may struggle to get the prize money they want for disadvantaged players. They want £20m for Fred, £50m for Harry Maguire, £30m for Dean Henderson and £30m for Scott McTominay. There will be a lot of back and forth to negotiate before deals can be reached.

Ten Hag would ideally like to sign a new striker as soon as possible to support his Premier League and Champions League challenger ambitions. Still, as United wait to see if they can sign Hojlund, Porto's Mehdi Taremi could perhaps become a cheap option the Dutch tactician could rely on if the Atalanta man never arrives at Old Trafford this summer.

Taremi's agent, Borna Khoramdel, CEO of Arvand Sport who represents the striker, posted a picture of the United badge on his Instagram post last week while tagging Old Trafford as his location. It's believed he wasn't actually at United's stadium, but the job is attractive nonetheless.

United have expressed interest in Taremi - who scored twice against England at the Qatar World Cup last year - already. It's overpriced with Tottenham's Harry Kane at around £100million. Bayern Munich are looking to sign the England captain, who will be available for free next summer if he does not leave Spurs in the coming weeks.

Taremi would be much cheaper than Hojlund, Kane and Randal Kolo Muani with a price tag of around £17m. The Iranian is 30 and therefore not the long-term solution in the position a Hojlund would be - but he would be a very good stopgap.

With Marcus Rashford thriving on the left and Anthony Martial's injury record questionable, Taremi - a player championed by United legend Rio Ferdinand - represents a qualified option. He scored five goals in seven Champions League starts last season and netted 22 in La Liga Portugal.

He finished with 31 goals and 14 assists in 51 appearances in all competitions, and this comeback was not a one-off. He has produced 26 goals and 17 assists in 48 outings for Porto in 2021-22. And the 2020-21 season produced 23 goals and 18 assists in 48 games. Taremi has the ability to be a competent goalscorer and goal maker, and certainly a more prolific target man than Wout Weghorst.

It wouldn't be the perfect summer - signing Hojlund after Andre Onana and then adding another centre-back and central midfielder would be. But in a window where Ten Hag has to compromise a bit, Taremi could be a bargain - especially if United can also snap up a level No.9 Kane next summer.