Manchester United Targets Nicolo Tresoldi as Striker Solution
Manchester United’s striker search has a new name on it – even if some inside the club are only just learning how to pronounce it.
Nicolo Tresoldi.
When his name was floated to one member of staff recently, the response was blunt: they hadn’t heard of him. The data team almost certainly has. That’s where his story usually starts.
A goalscorer hiding in plain sight
Tresoldi is not a household name in England, but his numbers scream for attention.
Last season, the Club Brugge forward finished as the top scorer in the Belgian top flight, hitting 23 goals and adding nine assists in all competitions. He turns 22 next month. Those are not the figures of a late bloomer; they’re the profile of a forward on the launchpad.
This isn’t just a flat-track bully story, either. Tresoldi carried his form into Europe, scoring in the Champions League against Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Monaco. The Jupiler Pro League does not mirror the intensity of the Premier League, but putting the ball past those clubs is a reliable way to get noticed in recruitment meetings.
He helped fire Brugge to the title, and he did it in the way Manchester United say they want their No.9s to operate: 6ft 1in, sharp movement, most of his goals coming from inside the box, ruthless when chances appear.
A proper centre-forward.
United’s new transfer reality
United’s attack is light. Painfully so.
Right now, Benjamin Sesko is the only senior recognised striker in the squad. Across a season that could stretch beyond 60 games, that is asking for trouble. Bryan Mbeumo, Amad and Matheus Cunha can all operate centrally, but they are not natural No.9s. Joshua Zirkzee has led the line in pre-season, yet he spends more time dropping off to knit play together than attacking the penalty spot.
Michael Carrick needs someone who lives between the posts.
The club’s new recruitment model is supposed to be built around that idea of “market value” – identifying talent before it becomes unaffordable. Sign players before they turn into £100m problems. Tresoldi sits squarely in that bracket. At 21, with a title, goals in Europe and an upward curve, his valuation could explode in the next few years.
United have done well when they’ve trusted their Belgian data. Their last signing from that league, goalkeeper Senne Lammens, arrived after chief goalkeeping scout Tony Coton pushed for him and the numbers backed it up. That move worked. It has strengthened the argument that if the data likes a player from Brugge, it’s worth a serious look.
Competition from Rome – and a price that makes sense
Club Brugge do not want to lose Tresoldi this summer. Champions rarely do when it comes to their main source of goals.
But money talks, and Roma have already started the conversation. Reports in Belgium say the Serie A side have submitted a bid worth up to €35m (£29m). Local coverage suggests Tresoldi’s head could be turned before the window closes.
United can outbid that. More importantly, they can structure a deal that Brugge find hard to refuse: more money up front, attractive add-ons, and still without smashing their budget.
The feeling around the deal is that an offer in the region of £35m, paid more aggressively than Roma’s proposal, would likely be enough to prise Tresoldi away. For a club searching for a backup striker who can push Sesko and grow with the project, that figure fits the new strategy.
Almost on the world stage
If Tresoldi still feels under the radar, that may not last long.
His performances for Germany’s Under-21s at last year’s European Championship pushed him firmly into the spotlight. Then came the real endorsement. Julian Nagelsmann, speaking about his World Cup squad, admitted Tresoldi came close to a call-up.
“Nicolo Tresoldi was very, very close to making the squad. He's not a classic target man, but a classic striker,” Nagelsmann said. “He was extremely close, but ultimately he didn't make the squad because we would have had to leave someone else out. That's not easy.”
Nagelsmann also made it clear that Tresoldi’s chance will come.
Born in Italy, Tresoldi moved to Germany at 13 to join Hannover’s academy, which is why he represents Germany at international level. That blend – Italian roots, German schooling, Belgian finishing school – has shaped a forward with a modern, mobile profile and a penalty-box instinct.
Exactly the sort of mix United’s analysts tend to like.
The pitch from Old Trafford
United are weighing up their options in the striker market and expect to move closer to the end of the window. The message is simple: Sesko cannot be the only senior No.9 if Carrick wants to compete on multiple fronts.
The sales job to Tresoldi would not be complicated. Join the biggest club in England. Compete with Sesko for starts. Grow inside a squad being built to challenge for the Premier League under a young manager who backs young players. Across league, cups and Europe, there will be minutes to share and games to decide.
Supporters have floated a romantic alternative: a late move for Danny Welbeck, with Chelsea pushing to sign him. Welbeck would be a clever stopgap, a one-season patch for a squad short of experience. But Carrick is not planning for one season. He is planning for a title tilt that needs time and a core of players entering their prime, not leaving it.
That is where Tresoldi makes sense. Young, proven in a smaller league, already delivering in Europe, and available at a price that still leaves room for growth.
Right now, not many inside Old Trafford could pick Nicolo Tresoldi out of a line-up. If United act on the numbers and their new philosophy, that anonymity will not last long.
