Manchester United made it clear to supporters that they shouldn’t anticipate many fireworks going into the transfer window. Football director John Murtough stated on a supporters’ forum that additions “around the edges of the squad” would occur, most likely in the shape of players “who are not playing as much football as they would like”. Loan moves were mentioned as a possibility.

United has downplayed the likelihood of significant permanent additions in part because they are attempting to maintain compliance with Financial Fair Play regulations, which impose restrictions. They did, however, gain some breathing room when they loaned Jadon Sancho to Borussia Dortmund, where the Bundesliga team would pay a portion of his salary.

Rasmus Hojlund, a £72 million summer acquisition, has only scored twice in the Premier League thus far, thus Erik ten Hag ideally wanted to add another forward. However, United might now be able to accomplish this.

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting of Bayern Munich is one player who is rumoured to be amenable to a move to Old Trafford. The Cameroonian would be a “candidate,” according to Fabrizio Romano, if the Red Devils “decide to attack the situation strongly,” and it appears they have done so. Romano made this announcement recently to GiveMeSport.

Man Utd begins talks on Choupo-Moting.

Seb Ecrivain, a French football journalist, claims that Man Utd and Bayern are currently “in contact” with Choupo-Moting. A six-month loan agreement that would be perceived as “offering a solution to Ten Hag” is something the team is “considering.”

Eric, Maxim, Choupo, Man-Moting, United, Premier League
Notably, the agreement is expected to come with “a minimal amount” of costs; however, it is unclear if this includes the loan fee, the wage contributions, or both. “To be continued” is what Ecrivain ends his tweet with, indicating that there will soon be more updates.

Hojlund can change with the aid of Choupo-Moting.

Given that Choupo-Moting is a player who is likely to become irritated with insufficient playing time, he might meet Murtough’s requirements. Although he has played for Bayern in every Bundesliga match thus far, he has only started three, which is a result of Harry Kane’s remarkable form as a summer acquisition. In addition to matching Robert Lewandowski’s record for the most goals in the first half of a Bundesliga season, Kane has scored more goals than any other player in the big five leagues in Europe so far this season (22).

Hojlund has shown glimpses of potential for United in recent games. He opened his Premier League career with a game-winning performance against Aston Villa, and he also contributed a goal and an assist in the most recent 2-2 draw with Spurs. Therefore, there might be a temptation to keep the Dane as the starting nine and rely on Choupo-Moting to contribute significantly off the bench.

He has scored seven goals as a substitute since joining Bayern in 2020, which may resolve Ten Hag’s obvious problem. United had the most effective bench in the league the previous season, as the table below demonstrates, but for the same criteria this year, they are down in the lower mid-table.

This year

league standings

previous season

league standings

Made substitutions

85

eighth

149

seventh

Objectives from the substitutes

3.

= 12th

12

first

Subs’ goal involvements

4

14

15

Second

Given the stark differences in production between the two players this season, you would wonder why Choupo-Moting would accept playing second fiddle to Hojlund. However, he would undoubtedly have a far greater chance of unseating him than he would Kane. Thus, this might be a mutually beneficial agreement.