Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has noticed the same thing as Pep Guardiola with transfer shortlist

It's the big one for Manchester United this summer and everyone knows it. Manager Erik ten Hag is targeting other positions but this summer's success at Old Trafford will largely be determined by the level of centre-forward recruited. Anthony Martial and Wout Weghorst are not the answers and so, United have one of their most important signings for some time to make.

For a club of such size the speculation will always sound rosy - Harry Kane, Victor Osimhen, Randal Kolo Muani, Rasmus Hojlund and Goncalo Ramos is an encouraging quintet to attack in the transfer market. But, as the Old Trafford faithful will have come to realise in recent years, rumours don't always lead to done deals.

Nonetheless, United's shortlist offers room for optimism. Pep Guardiola's mob are still the cream of the crop, but the rest of the Premier League top half is increasingly competitive. Newcastle United fourth, Brighton sixth, Aston Villa seventh, Brentford ninth and Chelsea 12th in the most recent campaign. Everton only just survived.

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Clubs are increasingly forward-thinking off the pitch in this day and age and stronger on it, as a result. One thing the English top flight is now renowned for is the athleticism in its best players - Guardiola's recent recruitment certainly suggests that the Catalan has cottoned on to that in the nick of time.

And that is the case for strikers perhaps more than any other position, or certainly as much. Look at the leading 'number nines' across the Premier League now: Haaland, Kane, Toney, Watkins, Isak, Wilson, Mitrovic, Awoniyi, Ferguson. What you are looking at there is a list of physical monsters; absolute powerhouses, to go with the