The Daily Mail suggests that Mario Mandzukic has joined Qatari side Al-Duhail, ending speculation of a transfer to Manchester United.
The 33-year-old completed his move from the Turin giants Juventus after a four-year spell in Italy, which saw him win 4 consecutive league titles with the Bianconeri.
However, with the arrival of new manager Mauricio Sarri, Mandzukic saw himself fall down the pecking order at Juventus.
A veteran of 162 matches, the Croatian was an inevitable presence in the Juventus line-up, amassing a total of 44 goals and 18 assists from all competitions.
A key player of the Italian side in the past couple of years, Mandzukic did not feature in a single game this season, thus being forced to look for options elsewhere.
One of the clubs to be linked with the veteran forward during his impasse were Manchester United. However, a deal never materialised and now that he will ply his trade with Al-Duhail, all such speculations have come to a halt.
Meanwhile, Manchester United, who have managed just 26 goals this season, have looked blunt in their attack so far this season, with the side clearly in need of a prolific goalscorer.
The United centre-forwards have looked far from impressive this season, which has seen them slip to 8th place in the league table. By not signing the experienced Mandzukic, who is a Champions League winner with Bayern Munich, Man United have missed a trick for sure.
Moreover, the departure of Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan last summer has made things even worse for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, who clearly lack a clinical finisher up front.
United centre-forwards Anthony Martial and young academy graduate Mason Greenwood have managed just 6 goals in the league this season, giving us a clear glimpse of the team’s woes in the attack.
That said, United were foolish to not pursue their interest in Mandzukic, who has a whopping 188 career goals playing for a variety of clubs in the last 13 years.
With United clearly struggling in the league this season due to lack of a quality finisher, manager Solskjaer and the club are enduring one of the most difficult periods in their recent footballing history.
The Red Devils have made a clear mistake by signing Mandzukic, whose poaching skills and vast experience could have really come in handy at such a difficult spell such as this.
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