Cristiano Ronaldo wants to leave Manchester United but the club better not be signing Gianluca Scamacca in his place
Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly on his way out of Manchester United and they aim to replace him with Italian striker Gianluca Scamacca which is a big mistake.
Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly on his way out of Manchester United and they aim to replace him with Italian striker Gianluca Scamacca which is a big mistake.
If the Portuguese star gets his wish (which happens more often than not) it would mean the end of his second stint at the club which he only just rejoined last summer.
This means Manchester United will most likely dip into the market for striking reinforcements and Italian centre forward Gianluca Scamacca has been mentioned as an alternative.
Who is Gianluca Scamacca?
Scamacca enjoyed a good breakout season for Sassuolo as he led the line and scored 16 goals in 36 Serie A games.
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The 23-year-old has caught the eye and as result become an Italian international and has been linked to many top clubs with a €40 million fee being mooted.
Whether or not that valuation is extreme for a young player with just one good (not exceptional) season is up for debate, such is the nature of today’s game, especially with strikers at a premium.
But Manchester United would be making a mistake by bringing him in with hopes of filling up the Ronaldo-shaped hole in Erik Ten Hag’s attack.
The clue is in the name
Manchester United have a history of falling for transfer scams and that is because their strategy so far has been to simply throw money at the newest shiny object on the market.
Scamacca fits right into that category, signing a 23-year-old who has never played outside of Italy and only just had a 16-goal season for Sassuolo is not a good idea.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored 18 Premier League goals for Manchester United last season and was still considered not good enough.
Many more experienced and established players have crumbled under the pressure and scrutiny that comes with being a Manchester United player, especially as a big-money new signing.
Scamacca not an upgrade
The only thing Gianluca Scamacca has over Cristiano Ronaldo is age, the problems the Portuguese supposedly created last season will persist with Scamacca.
Ronaldo scored eight more goals than Scamacca despite being 14 years older and playing at a more difficult level.
Other reservations about Scamacca’s game include his linkup play which is very poor, little wonder he failed to even register one assist in 38 games across all competitions last season and only has seven assists in 173 total career appearances.
Assists are not exactly a striker’s job but linkup play is important in today’s game and Scamacca’s is heavily deficient.
The Italian striker also managed just 4.40 touches in the opposition box per 90 minutes last season which is worse than 78% of strikers in all of Europe’s top five leagues according to FBRef.
And as much as Ronaldo was criticised last season for not pressing the ball enough, his measly 26.9% ball pressure success rate is still better than Scamacca’s at 24.3%.
At least Ronaldo has the excuse of age, Scamacca already displays these worrying signs at 23 years old, all the more reason for United to steer clear.
