Manchester United have the perfect transfer solution with ideal swap

Jamal Musiala has turned heads at Manchester City and it is the other two-goal German at the European Championship that United should have their eyes fixed on.

Niclas Fullkrug is 31, an old-fashioned striker and a substitute for Germany. He would not be an exotic post-tournament signing with an esteemed name (Jordi Cruyff) and is unlikely to notch the goal of the tournament (Karel Poborsky).

Wout Weghorst was not fashionable, either. There was logic to acquiring the Dutchman to offset the departure of the creaking Cristiano Ronaldo but Weghorst was overexposed by the oft-absent Anthony Martial.

Fullkrug is not a knee-jerk suggestion. This correspondent has prattled on about his ideal profile for United to consider for months on the Manchester Is Red podcast. As United know from Cruyff, Poborsky and Weghorst, signing someone solely on the back of international tournament form is ill-advised.

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It was par for the course yesteryear. Alex Ferguson attended Czech Republic versus Germany at Old Trafford in the group stage of the 1996 European Championship and was approached by an agent before kick-off. The agent told him to keep an eye on Poborsky.

Three weeks later, Ferguson decided to move for the winger, despite expressing nearly as much disapproval for Poborsky's long hair as Mr Burns did for Don Mattingly's sideburns.

Such a scouting strategy would be anathema to any elite club now. Even under Ed Woodward, United settled on a shortlist of summer targets six months in advance.

Fullkrug stood out as an obvious option some time ago. United need a seasoned striker who will mentor Rasmus Hojlund, keep him on his toes and be a reliable starter and substitute.

The centre forward started in 12 of Dortmund's 13 matches of their Champions League run last term and 29 times in the Bundesliga, tallying a reasonable 16 goals in 46 games (almost exactly the same as Hojlund's 16 in 43).

Fullkrug will not be mentioned in the same breath as Robert Lewandowski or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang by the bricks on the Yellow Wall but United need a solid building block. Fullkrug only joined Dortmund from Werder Bremen last year and has already entered the final two years of his contract.

He has good club pedigree but it is great at international level: 13 goals in 19 games. Four in six (all off the bench) at the World Cup and Euros. Fullkrug's 92nd-minute equaliser against Switzerland on Sunday night secured Germany top spot in Group A.

It is not as though Dortmund have Champions League football to offer Fullkrug. They, like United, will be in the Europa League next term. Representing United would continue the sudden ascent of a veteran who did not make his Germany debut until the eve of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The additional incentive for United is Jadon Sancho. United have to be more creative in the transfer market as they strive to meet the Premier League's profitability and sustainability rules. Sancho's valuation and salary are stumbling blocks to navigate if he is to permanently return to his "home" of Dortmund.

In recent years, some clubs have negotiated de facto swap deals that are structured to specifically enhance balance sheets. Sancho is valued at £40million by United and Fullkrug, a starting striker for Champions League finalists and currently the joint-top scorer at the Euros, is worth more than the €13m and €2m of add-ons Dortmund agreed to pay Werder Bremen ten months ago.

Ten Hag wanted another forward last summer but the presence of Martial, conveniently injured for almost the entirety of the transfer window, prevented United from making a move. Martial's weekly salary of £250,000 and his unsellable status proved prohibitive.

Martial will officially be off the books this time next week. His profile will be removed from the first team section of the club website and, going off the standards of the United matchgoers, his name will not be aired when they go through their repertoire of former player chants.

There will be no period of mourning. Ten Hag publicly and privately bemoaned his limitations up front throughout last season and the fateful decision to sign an unproven striker rather than a proven one played out worse than expected. Hojlund had a creditable season but United finished the Premier League in eighth with a minus goal difference.

Poborsky was in the Old Trafford press room a handful of times last season and looks better now than he did during his Euro 96 heyday. Smartly attired with a stylish stubble and tidy haircut, no one other than this correspondent recognised him.

He was more often decent than dreadful for United, and was still going strong at Euro 2004 for a crowdpleasing Czech side that reached the semi-finals. Later that year, the Old Trafford crowd stood to applaud Poborsky on his return with Sparta Prague, curtailed by a red card.

Ferguson did recruit a substitute striker after Euro 96, one who was not involved in the competition. His name was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.