According to latest transfer news reports Mario Mandzukic has been linked with a possible move to Manchester United. If media reports are to be believed the striker may move away from Atletico Madrid, who do not see the Croatian front-man in their plans for the future.
Despite two successful spells at Bayern MA?nchen, Mario Mandzukic was not favoured by Guardiola, who saw Polish striker, Robert Lewandowski, as a more adequate no. 9. Since then, Mandzukic made the switch to then Spanish champions, Atletico Madrid, for a rumoured a 22.8 Million. Since then, the power centre-forward has scored 20 goals in 42 appearances for Los Rojiblancos.
Despite initial hiccups, Mandzukic began to hit form in late 2014, including a prolific hattrick against Olympiakos in the Champions League group stage. Despite being Atleti’s top-scorer in Europe, his paltry return of 12 goals in 30 games during the domestic campaign did not bode well with Diego Simeone.
There have been talks of fall-outs with coaching staff and he failed to score since February 21 in a 3-0 win over lowly Almeria. Since then, Simeone started to prefer Raul Garcia and Fernando Torres, to partner Antoine Griezzman in Atletico’s forward line. Injuries, especially one to his face, did not aid his cause, as Mandzukic was not able to recover from his profligacy in front of goal.
With Atleti scraping to third place in the Liga table, Simeone is set to inject some younger blood into his ageing squad, particularly in the forward position. This has alerted many clubs, most notably Manchester United, to Mandzukic’s status.
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Needing a goalscoring forward, Manchester United would be wise to consider the Croatian. His proven record in front of goal, as well as his physicality and overall team-play, would make him an ideal replacement to the fledging Radamel Falcao, and the unreliable Robin van Persie.
Mandzukic is 29. He does all the little things. If you’re just looking at goals then you don’t get who he is. https://t.co/0JC6ewg1fI
a Matteo Bonetti (@TheCalcioGuy) June 10, 2015
Assuming Mandzukic is half the price of Jackson, surely the Croatian is a much better buy, one that makes more sense for Milan’s model.
a Matteo Bonetti (@TheCalcioGuy) June 10, 2015
Despite being 28, Mandzukic will offer more than one-dimension to Man United’s forward line. His performances, most notably under Jupp Heynckes in Bayern’s treble winning season, display his accomplished ability to lead the front line, as well as work in tandem with attacking players.
With Carlos Tevez being openly mentioned by Simeone, the writing seems to be on the wall for the Croatian forward.