Latest Striker Rumour - Who Is He and Why Do We Want Him?

Manchester United have survived a season without having an out and out striker on the pitch, and thankfully, weren’t forced to pay the price. Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez all feature in the league’s top 11 scorers this season, making up for the lack of goals we probably should have experienced.

Yesterday, Ferguson confirmed he would be looking for a new striker, saying, “we will buy. Along with Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney, we may need experience in one forward position.”

Michael Owen, Dimitar Berbatov and Klaas Jan Huntelaar seem to be the three players the newspapers have shortlisted our targets to.

However, there are some stories about Seville striker, Luís Fabiano, linking him with a summer move to United. So, who is he?

Name: Luís Fabiano
Age: 27
Country of origin: Brazil
Club: Seville
Goals this season: 34
Likely transfer fee: £8.6 million – £46.8 million

The striker has a bit of a reputation of a bit of ‘bad boy’, following several brawls on the pitch during his time in Brazil. In the 2003 Copa Sudamericana, his side, São Paulo, were playing River Plate of Argentina. During a fight, he stamped on a rival player just below the neck, sending him to hospital.

However, after scoring 34 goals in 44 appearances for Seville this season, he has caught the eye of United’s scouts. The 8 goals in 10 European Cup appearances, which lead to his team finishing top of the group that contained Arsenal, will also have turned our heads.

United fans went through a period of shuddering whenever we were linked with a South American, following the flops we’ve had in our club from that continent in the past. Veron, Forlan and Kleberson all failed to cut it at United. However, Carlos Tevez and Anderson have certainly brought with them new hope for South Americans to succeed at United. The fact that Fabiano appears to be quite a battler only adds to this hope.

The stumbling block at present though is the price, with a dispute between the club and Fabiano’s representatives meaning the estimates for his price vary widly. The club believe regulations in his contract mean United could be forced to pay as much as £46.8 million to secure the player, which clearly would end our interest in him. However, his representatives believe there is a clause which could see him leave for £8.6 million.

Are you interested?