Three forwards Manchester United could sign for free this summer to support Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester United are in need of striking reinforcements this summer. Anthony Martial is likely to leave Old Trafford if a reasonable offer comes in and Edinson Cavani's contract expires at the end of the season.

It seems Ralf Rangnick predicted such an issue back in the January transfer window. In his pre-match press conference before the Brighton game, the German spoke to the media about how in the final days of the winter window he had asked United's scouting department if there were any potential targets.

Rangnick said: "I still believe that we should have tried in those 48 hours, and the board sees it the same way – they agreed – but they also spoke to the scouting department at the same time. Maybe we should have tried to sign a player in these 48 hours since we knew Mason [Greenwood] wouldn’t be available and Anthony Martial had already left on loan… but we didn’t.

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"Maybe I should have pushed even more in order to get this additional striker. The answer at the time was: ‘No, there is no player on the market that can really help us’.”

Now, with the summer window approaching, United have many areas they need to address and a limited budget to work with, meaning that a backup to Cristiano Ronaldo may not be top of the list of priorities. With that in mind, let's have a look at the free transfer market and three players United could look to sign in the summer when their contracts expire:

Paulo Dybala

The most obvious choice on this list. The 28-year-old is set to leave Juventus when his contract expires in the summer and Erik ten Hag could be just the man to help him reach his full potential. Before Ajax signed