Ruud Gullit has insisted that Manchester United need to sign a number nine this summer because “struggling” captain Wayne Rooney is “not a real striker”.
Rooney is United’s first-choice striker, with only Javier Hernandez and James Wilson as support, but has failed to score in his three appearances this season.
He has also yet to have a shot on target in his two Premier League outings, and former Chelsea player and manager Gullit believes that Louis van Gaal needs a more prolific goalscorer.
“You can see the team does not have a proper striker. Wayne Rooney? He is not a real striker. Rooney wants to be involved in the play, but he cannot be the only man up front,” the Dutchman told the London Evening Standard about the 29-year-old, who bagged 14 goals in all competitions last term.
Rooney is only 20 goals short of becoming United’s all-time record scorer, having found the net 230 times in 481 appearances, but Gullit does not think that he suits Van Gaal’s 4-3-3 formation.
Gullit added: “Against Brugge, in a way he was struggling, but only because of the position he was put in. As long as Rooney is in that position the team are playing without a real striker.”
The Red Devils had been expected to sign Barcelona attacker Pedro before Chelsea made a late swoop for the World Cup winner, and are now thought to be targeting Bayern Munich star Thomas Muller.
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