Wout Weghorst meets Erik ten Hag demands but missing piece may decide Manchester United future

A penny for Wout Weghorst's thoughts at Anfield on Sunday as he watched Liverpool's front-line scoring for fun.

What the Manchester United forward wouldn't do right now for the kind of rebound that saw Mohamed Salah slot home his second, the ball landing at his feet six yards from goal after crashing off Roberto Firmino. Liverpool's luck was in on Sunday, their Midas touch turning everything to goals while Weghorst's barren spell continued.

That's 11 games without a goal for the 30-year-old now and a total of 822 minutes since he fired home his one and only strike against Nottingham Forest. Six of those 11 appearances have seen no shots on target including each of the last two against West Ham and then Liverpool.

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"I’m a striker and I think every striker knows it; you are living for scoring goals," Weghorst said in his first interview as a United player back in January. "That’s the thing we have been working all week to get it done in the weekend and that’s definitely something I want to achieve here also. That’s also what I meant with being part of it and contributing. Of course, for me as a striker, at the end, it’s also all about goals, of course.”

For Erik ten Hag it has never been just about goals, that was not the sole remit with which Weghorst was signed. United needed to replace Cristiano Ronaldo in January but by no means wanted a replica of the Portuguese forward, looking for more than just an elite goalscorer who refused to press.

In Weghorst, they found a willing runner with the physical presence to lead a line and the energy to press from the front. Eight goals in 16 for Besiktas indicated a return to the clinical nature of the