Who is Mario Mandzukic?

Manchester United have been linked with Mario Mandzukic this week, as the club looks to replace Radamel Falcao and, possibly, Robin van Persie.

Mandzukic is Croatian striker who has just turned 29. He has spent the last season at Atletico Madrid after signing from Bayern Munich for a reported £17 million.

He scored 12 league goals in 27 appearances last season, and a total of 20 in 42 games in all competitions. At Bayern Munich he scored 33 league goals in 54 games, and a total of 48 in 88. Mandzukic struggled to adapt to Pep Guardiola’s tactics and was left out of the squad halfway through the season after the manager was reportedly unimpressed with the striker’s effort in training. He finished the season as the club’s top scorer but was again left out of Guardiola’s squad as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal Final. Mandzukic asked to leave the club because “the playing style of coach Pep Guardiola simply does not fit” him.

Still, after a personally successful season, Mandzukic is set to leave the Spanish club after falling out with the coaching staff. The striker hasn’t scored since February and as early as March it was being reported he would leave after his relationship with Diego Simeone broke down. Simeone has claimed the player has been suffering from an ankle injury in the second half of the season but it has been reported that both parties are keen for the striker to leave.

United have been offered Mandzukic, with Arsenal, AC Milan and Roma also reportedly keen to sign him.