In the Premier League at Old Trafford on Sunday, Tottenham Hotspur twice overcame a deficit to earn a point, holding Manchester United to a 2-2 draw.

Rasmus Hojlund and Marcus Rashford both managed to register their names on the scoresheet in the opening forty-five minutes, so it was a good day for struggling attackers.

The fact that the two have only managed six Premier League goals between them in their 29 combined starts for Erik ten Hag this season highlights one of the club’s major issues: goal scoring.

Top scorers for Manchester United (via WhoScored)

23/24 Premier League

Looks

Objectives

McTominay, Scott

18

Five

Marcus Rashford

20

Four

Alejandro Garnacho

19

Three

Fernandes, Bruno

20

Three

Hojlund Rasmus

16

Two

The 24 league goals Manchester United managed to score in the 2023–24 season are surpassed by 13 clubs, indicating that the Dutch head coach is in desperate need of reinforcements up top.

Man United’s pursuit of a forward
The January transfer window is still open for business and the Red Devils seem to be looking to add another number nine to their roster before it closes in two weeks.

Karim Benzema, the star of Al-Ittihad who may be returning to Europe after less than a year in Saudi Arabia, has been linked to United, according to a report in Spain.

First, the publication stated that Real Madrid would consider making a move to reclaim the French centre striker, who departed the Bernabeu in the summer.

According to the source, Lyon, another of the striker’s previous teams, would be willing to recruit him on a loan until the end of the season in order to improve their Ligue 1 offence.

In order to expand their alternatives at the top of the pitch in the second half of the season, it was finally revealed that Manchester United is the third side in the running to sign Benzema on a short-term contract.

According to rumours, ten Hag wants to add a second centre forward to challenge Hojlund for the starting spot, and the Al-Ittihad star has been mentioned as a possible candidate.

By completing a deal for Benzema before the conclusion of the transfer window, the Dutch head coach may now replicate the masterclass that the team performed when they signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic back in the summer of 2016.

The extraordinary influence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic at United
At the age of 34, he made his way to Old Trafford with a proven track record at the highest level, having played for several major teams during his illustrious career.

Before moving to England, Ibrahimovic scored 392 goals in 677 career appearances. He came to the team having just returned from 180 matches with Paris Saint-Germain with 156 goals and 62 assists.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic
United recognised that, despite his advanced age, they had signed a top-tier number nine who might, in one way or another, lead them to glory.

That was precisely what transpired during his inaugural game for the team. On his Wembley debut, Ibrahimovic secured a 2-1 victory over Leicester City with a late header, earning the Sweden international an immediate trophy.

The seasoned striker proceeded to amass an impressive 28 goals and eleven assists in 46 games across all competitions, helping United win the Europa League and the League Cup at season’s conclusion.

In his five League Cup games, he scored four goals, two of which came in a 3-2 victory against Southampton at Wembley. This meant that in his first season at United, the former Barcelona player had won trophies twice at Wembley.

If ten Hag is able to acquire Benzema this month, he may have the same type of impact that Ibrahimovic had when he arrived in England as a world-class number nine who helped the team win three championships in a single season. However, because the season is only halfway over, Benzema’s influence would be smaller.

Benzema is an elite nine-year-old.
It is difficult to contest the French striker’s assertion that he is “the best no. 9 in the world,” made by his former boss Zinedine Zidance.

Benzema’s 44 goals and 15 assists in 46 games for Real Madrid during the 2021–2022 season earned him the Ballon d’Or at the end of 2022, suggesting that he was the finest player in global football at the time.

21/22 Champions League

Benzema Karim (source: Sofascore)

Looks

12

Rating for sofascore

8.05

Objectives

15

Huge opportunities lost

Two

Helps

Two

Large opportunities generated

Five

The 36-year-old game-winner then followed it up with 31 goals and six assists in 43 appearances for the Spanish powerhouses the previous campaign, which resulted in a summer 2023 transfer to Al-Ittihad of the Saudi Pro League.

In 15 league games for his new team, he has amassed nine goals, five assists, and thirteen “big chances” generated, demonstrating that his skill in the closing third is still very much there.

Real Madrid, Ronaldo, Karim, and Ballon dor
Benzema is still regarded as one of the best players in the world at the age of 36. The elite attacker really rates in the top 1% of his positional peers over the previous 365 days in both non-penalty xG and Expected Assisted Goals (0.95) per 90 in the Men’s Top Five Leagues and European tournaments.

This demonstrates his continuous danger to opposing defenders as a goal scorer and creator. His outstanding numbers also indicate that, over the last 365 days, FBref has identified PSG’s Kylian Mbappe as the player who most closely resembles him.

These numbers demonstrate that, like Ibrahimovic was when he moved to Old Trafford, Benzema is still playing at a very high level and is on par with the finest players in the world.

In light of this, United may replicate their Zlatan Ibrahimović feat by adding a top-tier experienced centre striker who, in the second part of the 2023–24 season, may provide ten Hag’s team with tremendous offensive ability.