Manchester United can forget about signing two players to fix £108.5m transfer problem

None of the 22 starters at the Sam Mames Stadium on Wednesday evening had fewer touches of the ball than Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund.

Given the nod to lead the line by default amid the lack of a like-for-like alternative, the Dane registered a paltry 15 touches in 70 minutes of United's 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final.

He did go close to cancelling out Brennan Johnson's first half opener when he saw a header expertly cleared off the line by Spurs centre-back Micky van de Ven, but that was his only notable contribution.

He was replaced by Joshua Zirkzee, who had recovered from a hamstring injury ahead of schedule, with 20 minutes to go and the Dutchman gave United more mobility in attack, with the former Bologna man dropping into pockets of space to try and link the play and get United up the pitch.

As effective as Zirkzee had been as a No.10 prior to his spell on the sidelines, it had long since been discovered that he was not a natural alternative to Hojlund to spearhead United's attack.

The pair have scored 17 goals between them this season, of which only seven have come in the Premier League. It has been obvious for some time that a striker must headline United's shopping list this summer.

But having lost to Spurs and missed out on Champions League qualification for next season, United are now expected to be shopping in a different market to the one they had planned to had they secured a place back at European football's top table.

United will not feature in any European competition for the first time since the 2014/15 campaign. They need to gut their squad this summer and rebuild from almost a blank canvas but are not going to be as attractive an option as they would have been