Ten Hag receives approval to complete Man Utd’s acquisition of an obscure Serie A striker in place of a botched £57.6 million trade.

According to reports, Manchester United is thinking of making an unexpected move to recruit Nikola Krstovic, a striker from Montenegro, who is apparently free to leave Lecce in the January transfer window for a discount price.

Erik ten Hag’s second season leading Manchester United is proving to be incredibly challenging, as he has a variety of problems at Old Trafford to address. After finishing third, making it to the FA Cup final, and winning the Carabao Cup the previous season, it appears that most of the initial excitement around his reign has vanished rather swiftly.

Ten Hag may soon have challenges in keeping his position as Manchester United manager, as the team has a troubling record of nine losses from their first 18 games of the season.

Our concerning allegation that certain senior Manchester United players have started to doubt Ten Hag’s strategies, substitutions, and transfer choices has supported those accusations.

And after that story was picked up by several national newspapers, a Liverpool legend said last week that Ten Hag would undoubtedly lose his job. He also mentioned the “obvious” Premier League coach who was supposed to take his place.

However, the beleaguered United manager keeps going, urging his team to have unity and a determination to fight their way up the Premier League standings.

Ten Hag will probably be most concerned with United’s lack of a cutting edge in attack, despite problems all over the field.

Bruno Fernandes is the second most creative player in the Premier League this season, so obviously the problem isn’t with creating chances. Clearly, though, is finishing them.

Ten Hag needs a new striker at Manchester United because Martial is leaving.

Following their fallout, the England winger is expected to be free to depart in the January transfer window.

But, those difficulties are made worse by the fact that Marcus Rashford (one goal), Anthony Martial (one goal), Alejandro Garnacho (one goal), and Anthony (zero goals) are simply not making the kind of contributions that are expected of them. Rasmus Hojlund, the team’s largest summer acquisition, has yet to score in the Premier League, despite scoring five goals in four Champions League games.

With only six months remaining on his contract, Martial has allegedly received Ten Hag’s approval to depart. In fact, our exclusive on Tuesday showed that a number of elite European teams were pursuing Martial, and that his departure would probably be approved as soon as the January transfer market begins.

After eight and a half seasons at Old Trafford, Martial, who ultimately cost a whopping £57.6 million from Monaco, will leave due to injuries and inconsistent play.

But now that the 30-time France cap winner is leaving, Ten Hag will need to find a replacement.

Nikola Krstovic is connected to a cheap Manchester United move.

Furthermore, despite rumors that Porto striker Mehdi Taremi would make a low-cost transfer to United in January, reports from Italy currently indicate Ten Hag has another choice in the shape of Krstovic.

The Montenegro striker only made the summer transfer from Slovakia’s Dunajska Streda to Lecce.

But the 23-year-old has adjusted fast, scoring four goals in his first seven Serie A games.

He may now be on the move once more, as reported by Calciomercato, as United has been granted the go-ahead to pursue his acquisition for a mere €10 million (£8.7 million).

The 11-time Montenegro international had a stellar record in the Slovakian division before joining Serie A, tallying 37 goals and eight assists from 66 games.

Of course, it’s a whole different ballgame to do it regularly in the Premier League. To see how tough it may be, all you have to do is consider Hojlund’s failure to register for the Premier League (even though it was due to a questionable VAR call during the home game versus Brighton).

However, in addition to replacing Martial, United does require an additional offensive player to cover and challenge Hojlund.

On Wednesday, there were further rumors that United was interested in Brighton striker Evan Ferguson, who is said to be Ten Hag’s ideal target.

The Seagulls are demanding a new British record sum for the striker, so any deal including the Irish teenager won’t be cheap.