We 'sold' Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United signed £60m striker replacement

Erik ten Hag has been backed in the transfer market this summer, with Manchester United making three signings already, and with more potentially on the way.

United have already brought in Netherlands duo Christian Eriksen and Tyrell Malacia as well as confirming the signing of Ajax centre-back Lisandro Martinez. The club has also agreed terms with Dutch international Frenkie de Jong, but it remains to be seen if he'll reunite with Ten Hag after a contractual disagreement with Barcelona over deferred payments.

Ten Hag isn't shying away from his new role either - reports indicate he's targeting players that he's familiar with instead of fully giving control over to United's scouting department. But, the Dutchman might have a big task to deal with before the season begins - Cristiano Ronaldo's future and possible exit from the club.

READ MORE: Manchester United player ratings as Jadon Sancho and Zidane Iqbal good vs Melbourne Victory

If Ronaldo does leave, it could pave the way for Ten Hag to get even deeper into his budget for this summer and really splash the cash. Therefore, we simulated the rest of his transfer window, as well as this season, to see just who Ten Hag would replace Ronaldo with.

For this simulation to happen, we used the in-game editor for Football Manager 2022 to allow the transfer of Ronaldo at the start of the 2022 summer transfer window. We also made De Jong part of the squad before the simulation began.

Ten Hag's side filled the large hole left by Ronaldo's exit, spending £60m on Nigerian international Victor Osimhen as his replacement.

Ronaldo's exit clearly required a striker that can score goals — and Osimhen is certainly one of those. Having hit double digits in his last four seasons,