Man Utd Make ‘Contact’ Over Striker Target Contingent on Hojlund Exit | OneFootball

Manchester United are in need of an upgrade at striker this summer with the club reportedly targeting Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins.

The two clubs have made contact to explore the possibility of a deal, according to The Athletic. Though, there's an important contingency attached: Rasmus Højlund would have to leave the club for Manchester United to make a move. Man Utd and Aston Villa reportedly discussed the idea of including Marcus Rashford as part of a deal since the England international spent the second half of the season on loan with Unai Emery's team.

Villa specifically turned down both options to either activate Rashford's buy option or include Watkins as part of any deal given the player's interest in joining Barcelona this summer.

Watkins scored 16 goals in 38 league appearances this past campaign while providing eight assists. The season prior, he hit double digits in both figures with 19 and 13 respectively. He's got European experience under his belt as well having played in the Champions League last season. Watkins has also been linked with a move to Arsenal in previous transfer windows.

Højlund and Joshua Zirkzee both failed to impress Ruben Amorim in his first season as the Portuguese coach looks to upgrade. The Danish striker has been linked with a move to Champions League finalists Inter, but his future is still up in the air.

Outside of interest in Bryan Mbeumo, Man Utd signed Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers this summer to give them a creative, versatile forward. But, Watkins's profile represents a bit more experience up top given the young age of the aforementioned players.

At 29-years-old, Watkins has hit double digits in each of the last five Premier League seasons playing a majority of Villa's games under different managers. Watkins also represents a plan-B given Viktor Gyökeres, Amorim's old striker at Sporting CP, has given priority to Arsenal this summer.