As per Football Espana, Manchester United have held talks to sign Real Madrid striker Joselu for the 2024/25 season.
Rasmus Hojlund has struggled to find his feet in the Premier League and in 39 games the Danish forward has managed to score only 14 goals. United are planning to bring in another striker next season who can help share Hojlund’s goalscoring burden and the OT outfit feels Joselu is the right man for this job.
Anthony Martial is going to be sold and since Manchester United invested so heavily in Hojlund last summer, they are planning to bring in someone who will not mind playing second-fiddle to the youngster. Joselu is currently on loan to Real Madrid from Espanyol and the 34-year-old has scored 15 goals in 45 appearances for the Los Blancos. His loan deal expires at the end of this season after which he will have to return to Espanyol.
Should Man United go out and spend money on the ageing Joselu?
Over the previous few seasons, Manchester United brought in Varane and Casemiro from Real Madrid and both of them have turned out to be massive failures. Joselu is already 34 years old and many would think that it will be a major gamble to spend money on him.
It’s clear that Rasmus Hojlund will need time to settle down properly and that’s why the United think tank wants to sign someone who won’t mind starting on the bench for most matchweek. This season, Joselu might have featured in 30 LaLiga matches but out of those he has started in only 13 so he won’t mind being the super sub.
Varane and Casemiro were tempted in by offering them huge salary packages but thankfully, that won’t be the case for Joselu because as per Capology, he currently earns around €48,000 per week so the maximum he can demand is to double his wages.
Paying around €100,000 per week should not be a problem for Manchester United if the 34-year-old can chip in with 15-20 goals next season but having said that, Joselu wants to remain with Real Madrid.
The Spanish forward had said last month: “I hope to stay with Real Madrid on a permanent deal. I had a clause that if Espanyol went down, I could go out on loan. And well, Madrid had the opportunity, they thought it was convenient to be able to trigger it. And here I am,
“Well, there’s a contract, an option to buy, Madrid can buy me in the summer. There are many situations, if Espanyol doesn’t go up, if they do go up. A lot of things that can happen.”
Madrid are yet to make up their mind on this because they have Kylian Mbappe coming in however, if they are willing to hold onto Joselu then Manchester United stand no chance.
Overall, it is not a major gamble to go out and spend money on the Spaniard because he has a habit of scoring goals but Man United will need to be very careful not to overpay him and that they do not offer him a long contract.
