Alexander Sorloth offered to Manchester United

Manchester United’s summer rebuild has already touched most areas of Michael Carrick’s squad, but one problem has stubbornly refused to resolve itself.

Carlos Baleba’s arrival completed a midfield overhaul that has left United with genuine depth in the middle of the park for the first time in years.

Up front, though, Carrick has essentially been working with a squad of one recognised centre-forward since his arrival last season.

Benjamin Sesko didn’t start United’s last two league fixtures, including Sunday’s 5-2 win over Ipswich that erased the memory of the opening-day defeat to Hull.

He is still not fully match fit as of yet but is expected to command that role once fully back.

Joshua Zirkzee’s continued presence on the fringes offers little real competition for that spot, and his own situation now looks set to be resolved before the deadline.

United will need to bring in a backup for Sesko if Zirkzee’s departure is finalised before Tuesday’s cut-off.

The Dutchman has turned down a move to Fiorentina, with Juventus now lying in wait as an alternative destination.

Should the Bianconeri get their man, Carrick will be left short of recognised options leading the line.

Manchester United offered Atletico Madrid striker

Alexander Sorloth has emerged as one solution, with the Atletico Madrid striker offered to United through intermediaries in recent days, as Caught Offside reports.

The 30-year-old could be United’s for £30million, though INEOS are unlikely to pay that much for what would essentially be a squad player behind Sesko.

United are instead expected to try to negotiate a loan deal with the Spanish club.

Alexander Sorloth offers a completely different profile to anything else in Carrick’s current forward line, a genuine target man capable of holding the ball up and bringing others into play.

His numbers in Spain back that up too, with 72 goals in 171 games, including a hat-trick for Atletico inside just 11 minutes against Real Sociedad last year.

His solitary previous crack at the Premier League, a two-year spell at Crystal Palace between 2017 and 2019, yielded not a single league goal, a contrast so stark it’s almost hard to reconcile with the player he has since become.

Jean-Philippe Mateta would represent a far more proven Premier League option, but Crystal Palace’s valuation of their in-form striker has proven a significant obstacle, even though he was offered to United.

Ultimately, any move for a new striker remains entirely dependent on United first getting Zirkzee off the books permanently, rather than risk being left short-handed themselves.