Ferdinand has ‘left field’ pick for Man Utd if Haaland, Kane are out of reach

Rio Ferdinand TEAMtalk

Rio Ferdinand has recommended the ideal No.9 for Manchester United if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer fails to get his hands on Erling Haaland and Harry Kane this summer.

United are understood to have a new striker at the top of their summer wanted list. Edinson Cavani has yet to decided whether he will be staying at Old Trafford and Solskjaer is looking at alternatives. Norway striker Haaland is believed to head the list for United, but his situation becomes more complicated by the day.

His agent Mino Raiola has now confirmed that Borussia Dortmund do not want to sell until next summer, and he has no problem with their stance.

Raiola told Sport1: “I can confirm that I was in Dortmund for talks.

“Michael Zorc made it clear to us that BVB does not want to sell Erling this summer. I respect that opinion, but that does not automatically mean that I also agree.

“BVB were very clear in their views. We are okay with that.”

With Haaland possibly out of reach this summer then United may well look to Spurs striker Kane. That deal though may also be out of reach, with Daniel Levy apparently steadfast in his stance that he will not sell to a Premier League rival.

In which case United will have to look elsewhere and former United centre-back Ferdinand says Everton forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin would be a “fantastic” signing.

“Listen Dominic Calvert-Lewin for me I love him,” Ferdinand told the FIVE YouTube channel.

“I’ve watched a lot of Everton this year and he’s one that unnerves defenders. He’s not one you want to play against week in, week out. He’s aggressive, he attacks the ball.

“I was speaking to Carlo Ancelloti earlier this year and he mentioned Inzaghi and said he didn’t need many chances to score goals and he scores goals in and around the six-yard box.

“I look at Calvert-Lewin this season and he’s listened to that, he’s taken that on board. Obviously he seems a real good student of the game and he’s started putting that into his own game.

“We’ve seen the rewards he’s had he’s got into the England squad by scoring loads of goals in and around the six-yard box – scoring those ugly goals.”


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£80m Calvert-Lewin valuation

The Metro claim Calvert-Lewin, 24, is valued at £80m by Everton. But after a season where he has 19 goals in 32 appearances already that value could well rise. Especially if Calvert-Lewin gets a chance to impress at the Euros in June.

Of course he would still represent a cheaper option than both Haaland and Kane.

Ferdinand added: “I think he’d be a fantastic signing for Manchester Unite. It’s one out of left field a little bit but I think he’d have a big impact. He’d get on the end of the things created by Fernandes, Pogba, Rashford, Greenwood etc.

“It’s whether Ole sees that as something that is feasible or am I not going to get the likes of Haaland or Kane? if either of those come up they’ll be first choice as long as the money is not crazy and it’s doable.”

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