One of the worst-kept secrets in European football finally became public knowledge this weekend, one of the many strikers linked with a move to Manchester United seeing his destination announced at last.
Everyone knows the Premier League giants want a new centre-forward this summer. One capable of easing the goalscoring burden on the promising-yet-developing Rasmus Hojlund, and adding some much-needed potency to an often wasteful frontline.
But will Manchester United go for another high-risk but potentially high-reward option – such as a Vitor Roque or a Benjamin Sesko – or a more experienced option? If they chose the latter, then FC Porto’s Mehdi Taremi may have found himself pretty high on the Ineos hitlist.
Especially with the 31-year-old’s contract expiring on July 1st.
Manchester United are looking for a new striker
Man United were linked with Taremi last year, via Journal De Noticias. And while speculation surrounding his agent’s intriguing trip to Old Trafford proved to be a red herring, Taremi certainly ticked a lot of boxes if United felt they needed a more battle-scarred, ‘proven’ option to fight for a spot alongside a striker 10 years his junior.
Well, we can now officially draw a line under those Taremi links for good. Inter Milan, the newly-crowned Serie A champions with quite the track record when it comes to signing veteran free-agents, finally confirmed what most in Italy have known for some time.
Taremi, scorer of 200 goals in just 401 club games, will be bringing his line-leading talents to the San Siro in 2024/25.
“We’re very happy to have him,” smiles Inter coach Simone Inzaghi, who has himself played down speculation surrounding a move to Old Trafford (DAZN).
“He is an important player, he has a lot of experience in Champions League games, in Europe. He has scored many goals and we are happy to have him.
“We will have a larger squad next season, so we needed more strikers.”
Mehdi Taremi is leaving FC Porto for Inter Milan
Inter are expected to move on from Alexis Sanchez, the one-time Man United flop who – like Taremi – joined on a free after his 30th birthday.
One rather intriguing subplot in the Taremi story, meanwhile, surrounds that of Joshua Zirkzee. Inter Milan’s vice-president Javier Zanetti last week suggested that the Nerazzuri could join Man United in the race for £40 million-rated, Berbatov-esque Bologna baller.
With Taremi on his way, however – and with Bayern Munich unlikely to trigger the buy-back clause in the former Allianz Arena starlet’s contract – Zirkzee remains very much on the market for a Man United side who appear to be prioritising exuberance over experience in the Ineos era.
“Zirkzee? He will be a ‘transfer man’ in the summer,” Roberto Acquafresca, who spent six years at Bologna until 2017, tells Tuttomercatoweb. “And, if I have to compare him to someone, he reminds me a lot of Berbatov.
“Because he has great technique and vision of the game and only scores beautiful goals.”
