Manchester United dodged the answer to burning transfer question

Chris Rumfitt echoed fan sentiment on the Manchester United fans' forum with his bouncer of an opening delivery.

"CR asked if the club had made any meaningful attempts to sign players such as Rice, Bellingham, or Kane," the minutes read. A verbatim response from the United communications director was not published. Football director John Murtough was absent from last week's meeting.

United reiterated they recruited three priority targets before the Premier League season started. That was laudable. There were no hatchet jobs on United signing a starting goalkeeper, midfielder and striker before August. Quite the opposite.

Questions were raised, though. Is Mason Mount a midfielder? Can Rasmus Hojlund, a callow striker, shoulder the goalscoring burden in a team that found goals hard to come by last season? Many suspected the answer to both questions was no. They were right.

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When he is not injured, Mount has looked like a midfield mismatch with just about anyone he is partnered with. He was shifted to the right-hand side in October and then dropped. Mount has not notched a goal or an assist and missed two months of the season already.

Hojlund is yet to score in the Premier League after 13 appearances and his chance at Anfield was that of a 20-year-old striker who should be a substitute and not a starter. Hojlund has been overburdened when United always needed a dependable goalscorer.

That whittled the list down to Kane or Victor Osimhen. Kane would have been a coup with caveats but, with him, United would have more points and more goals this season. Kane is one of a