Man United has only had 2 new players in midfield, Andrey Santos (from Chelsea) and Youri Tielemans (from Aston Villa). In the last 2 seasons, midfield has been the most prominent issue of the "Red Devils", but it seems that everyone has forgotten that the center forward position of the team at this time is also very thin in personnel.
In Man United's first team at this time, there is only Benjamin Sesko who is capable and is also almost the only one playing striker. There are 2 other factors, Joshua Zirkzee and Chido Obi Martin, but both are not good. Zirkzee has long been no longer considered the core factor, while Obi is too young to be able to assign important responsibilities in big playgrounds like the Premier League or Champions League.
Next season, Man United will play in 4 arenas and if there is only Sesko, Carrick will put the team in a dangerous position. Although the Slovenian striker played quite well in the second half of last season, he still cannot reach the top center forward level. Sesko needs someone to share the responsibility and Carrick also understands that.
Buying a good center forward is not simple, at least in terms of transfer price, it must be determined that it will always be above 100 million Euros. Man United is in the process of rebuilding, the team will agree to invest but not risk putting it all into 1 deal. In the context that financial resources are still needed for the midfielder position, the center forward option may be calculated by the club's leadership in a different way.
Last season, in the early stages when Michael Carrick temporarily replaced Ruben Amorim, Man United had 2 very convincing victories against Man City and Arsenal. In those 2 matches, the highest player in attack was Bryan Mbeumo, a star who is known for his role as right winger.
Until the pre-season friendly period, the Cameroonian striker still played the center forward role in the match against Atletico Madrid. Mbeumo played stably and scored a double, helping the team come back to win 2-1. The former Brentford star scored 1 goal on penalties, plus 1 goal with a run to cut in front of the opponent's goalkeeper. If luckier, Mbeumo's header would go into the net instead of close to the post. Such skills often appear in a sharp striker, in the context that Mbeumo is still defaulted as the winger.
In the second half of last season, Mbeumo still regularly played in the right striker position in Carrick's formation, but there is a very noteworthy statistic for the English coach. All 5 goals Mbeumo has scored since Carrick took over Man United have come from matches where the 26-year-old striker plays highest in the attack.
Mbeumo scored against Arsenal, Man City and Tottenham when playing center forward. After that, he was silent for 11 consecutive matches whenever he drifted to the wing to give the center forward position to Sesko. When the Slovenian striker was absent at the end of the season, Mbeumo started in the center forward position in the last 2 matches of the season and he scored in both of those matches!
Mbeumo's ability to play center forward not only helps Carrick have more rotation options for Sesko, but the 45-year-old coach also solves the positioning problem in Amad's squad. Once Amad Diallo is used more, young talent Shea Lacey will have the opportunity to squeeze into the first team to play a backup role for his seniors.
After the recent victory against Atletico, when asked about his favorite position (center forward or wing), Mbeumo did not specify. He only said he felt lucky to play in many positions and would always try, and what about the rest depends on each match.
If Carrick and Mbeumo really get involved in the new role of the Cameroonian striker, plus the persuasiveness from the existing indicators, the center forward problem will be solved. At that time, the team can focus more on the midfield overhaul, a problem that has been considered the most painful in the past 2 seasons.
