Manchester United must hijack Chelsea transfer deal for £20m striker after Marko Arnautovic decison

Manchester United withdrew their interest in signing Marko Arnautovic yesterday but the damage has already been done. There was a suspicion this summer was becoming somewhat of a circus and the club's interest in Arnautovic was confirmation of that.

It is a disgrace that Arnautovic was ever considered at Old Trafford. Arnautovic, 33, was never close to being good enough for United at his best and he's now in the winter of his career after spending two years with Shanghai Port in the Chinese Super League. It is difficult to find something supporters can unanimously agree on but all supporters shared the same reaction to the Arnautovic links.

That reaction was disbelief, which evolved into anger. Cristiano Ronaldo wants to leave the club and United need to sign a centre-forward this summer, but the interest in Arnautovic had all the hallmarks of desperation - it was simply humiliating.

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The Manchester Evening News revealed yesterday that talks for Arnautovic had ended and it's understood that backlash to United's interest in Arnautovic is understood to be a contributing factor in the club withdrawing their enquiries, while Bologna's valuation of Arnautovic was also a stumbling block. United should not be signing Arnautovic even if he was offering to play for free.

There are now three weeks remaining in the summer transfer window. Ronaldo and Anthony Martial are the only recognised strikers at the club - the latter is currently injured - and it would be a disaster if United were unable to sign another centre-forward.

United were interested in signing Benjamin Sesko this summer but he's another target that they've failed to land. RB Leipzig