Man Utd burst into race to sign £52m talent who could be their new Martial

Manchester United have hit form under Michael Carrick straight away.

It took him just two games to win back-to-back Premier League clashes, something Ruben Amorim took almost 12 months to do. There is certainly a feel-good factor back at Old Trafford, with some players really standing out.

Patrick Dorgu and Bryan Mbeumo have both shone under the ex-United midfielder. Each player has two goals in as many games, with Dorgu operating as a left-winger. Mbeumo, meanwhile, has been preferred to Benjamin Sesko up front, and has enjoyed great success doing so.

With the Slovenian out of favour of late, it might be no surprise to learn United are targeting a new number nine.

Man Utd targeting new centre-forward

Sesko’s form since his summer move to Old Trafford has been patchy, despite scoring three goals in two games under Darren Fletcher. However, it seems like the Red Devils are looking to add to their depth up front, if recent reports are to be believed.

According to French outlet Foot Mercato, the 13-time Premier League champions are ‘interested’ in signing Stade Rennais and France U21 international Kader Meite. United could move for the 18-year-old if one of their existing options up front departs the club.

However, this is not going to be an easy deal to do. The Red Devils will face tough competition from Saudi side Al-Hilal, who are said to be ‘pushing hard to sign him’ and ‘ready to pay the fee’ that the Ligue 1 side want.

According to the report, they are looking for a fee in or around the €60m (£52m) Rennes accepted when they sold Jeremy Doku to Manchester City.

How Meite compares to Anthony Martial

If United were to bring Meite to Old Trafford, they would be buying a player for the present and the future. At only 18 years of age, he doesn’t have a wealth of experience, but he has already shown why he is so highly rated.

As football talent scout Jacek Kulig said, the teenager is an “elite talent,” shining for Rennes with limited minutes this term. He’s made 17 Ligue 1 appearances, but only 503 minutes, equivalent to 5.5 full 90-minute games. In that time, Meite has bagged three goals and assisted two.

That game-to-goal involvement ratio Meite has this term is certainly impressive. He’s scored and assisted in the same game twice, including this strike against RC Strasbourg at the start of November, which showed how dominant he can be in the penalty box.

The striker, who hails from the Parisian suburb of Creteil, has some excellent underlying statistics this term. For example, he’s won an average of 3.4 aerial duels per 90 minutes and has an average expected goal tally each game of 0.6xG. They ranked him in the top 12% and 8% of strikers in Ligue 1.

Meite key stats in 25/26 Ligue 1
Stat (per 90)	Number	Rank
Goals	0.51	Top 24%
Expected goals	0.6xG	Top 8%
Dribbles completed	1.02	Top 16%
Touches in opposition box	6.62	Top 14%
Aerial duels won	3.4	Top 8%
Stats from Fotmob

If the Red Devils get this deal over the line, then Meite could well be seen as the new Anthony Martial at Old Trafford. There are certainly similarities between the two; Martial was 19 when he moved to United, a year older than the Rennes star is now. Of course, both are talented French strikers, too.

Despite struggling with injuries, Martial was excellent in a United shirt. A silky dribbler and one of the coolest finishers in the Premier League for a good number of years, he scored 90 goals and assisted 54 in 317 games for the Red Devils.

He scored some big goals, too. That includes strikes against Liverpool on his debut and Everton in the 2015/15 FA Cup semi-final, a competition United went on to win. Meite would surely love to have that sort of impact on the club.

With United still looking for a number nine who can be the first choice in the years to come, Meite could be that guy. He’s made a good start to life in professional football and has the numbers to back it up.

Here’s hoping that his career doesn’t unwind as it did with Martial in Manchester. Like the former Monaco forward, he’s got an incredibly exciting set of attributes.