From style complementarity to tactical integration: Can the 200 million pound new trident solve Manchester United s offensive dilemma?

People often say that good things come true - at least Ruben Amorin is looking forward to such a result.

The Manchester United coach plans to completely renew his front line this summer and introduce three highly promising attackers. Mattus Cunia and Brian Mbomo have joined in the early stages of the transfer window. Now the club has reached an agreement with Red Bull Leipzig for center Benjamin Sesco, which has enabled Manchester United to invest more than 200 million pounds in the new striker in the 2025-26 season.

For Manchester United fans, this is undoubtedly news worth looking forward to. The team's defense line problem was highlighted last season, conceding 54 goals, but looking back at the past decade, Manchester United still ranked sixth when the Premier League conceded a goal or exceeds this number three times. What really restricts the team is the weakness of the offensive end: they only scored 44 goals in the Premier League, setting a record low in 33 years of Premier League history.

Therefore, the front line obviously needs to be fully reshaped. But can these three new players get in line with Amorin's system and play their strengths?

Predicting the performance of a player after transfer is already full of variables, and it is even more difficult to judge the chemistry of a brand new striker. However, the roles and performances of the three players in the field in recent seasons have revealed positive signals - as Manchester United teammates, they are expected to complement each other's shortcomings and even amplify each other's advantages.

The basic criterion for testing this coordination fluency is position: will they interfere with each other? We don't know what formation Amorin will eventually adopt - Sesco has not signed yet, and Mbomo and Cunia only partnered for 45 minutes in the pre-season friendly against Everton last weekend - but from the paper configuration, the three-man attack unit is well balanced.

Observing the touch hot map last season, we can see that Mbomo prefers to move on the right, Cunya cuts from the left rather than pushing along the sideline, while Sesco usually moves in the middle. This means that Manchester United can completely let all three start in the position they are best at.

But simply inserting three talented players in their comfort zones does not mean that they can produce chemical reactions. The key is how they interact: Does the center's running fit the passing habits of wing players? Can their passes adapt to the technical characteristics of their frontcourt teammates? Can the three of them form a coordinated pressing system?

The styles of Cunya and Mbomo are mirror-like, which makes them hope to connect naturally and cooperate with each other. Both are good at pushing team attacks by driving the ball through and forward passes - this type of attack trait is exactly what Manchester United lacked last season (see the figure below). Cunha has another advantage: he once served as No. 10 left in Wolves' 3-4-2-1 system, and this is the formation Amorin insists on promoting at Manchester United.

What is relatively vague is how these two wing attackers will work with Sesco.

This uncertainty stems in part from the 22-year-old Slovenian's experience, and his performance in Leipzig has been very different in two seasons, making it difficult to clarify his natural style.

When Sesco first joined Leipzig in the summer of 2023, he was deployed as a typical penalty-type forward - wandering next to the opponent's last defender, and the touching balls were mostly concentrated in the deep area. But last season, as Leipzig's condition declined, offensive problems became increasingly close to Manchester United's dilemma, and creative supply was insufficient, and Sesco was often forced to retreat to participate in the offensive organization.

To judge how he integrates into the Manchester United system, we can refer to the following points: what types of center teams Cunya and Mbomo have with in the past, what Amorin usually requires for the striker, and how well Sesco matches these traits.

Despite the similarities in styles, Mbomo and Cunya have slightly different needs for frontcourt partners.

First, last season Mbomo's cooperation with Brentford teammate Joan Visa was far more tacit than Cunnia and Wolves teammate Jogan Strand Larsen.

Mbomo has cooperated with Visa for 166 times, while Cunha and Strand Larson have only 80 passes - although the former has been with four years and the latter is in its first season. But for this Cameroon international, the key is not only the number of linkages. Mbomo also benefited from Visa's tireless unball running, and this clever movement created space available for him. Last season at the Gtech community stadium, Visa took away the defensive players by putting on the edge or inserting the ball, allowing Mbomo to cut in and score with his left foot.

In contrast, Cunha usually wants Strand Larsen to pull back and use the Norwegian's strong body panel to complete a quick wall-hitting cooperation, allowing himself to cut in from the left and rush to the edge of the penalty area. A case of such cooperation can be seen in the game 3-0 at home against Leicester City in April (see the picture below).

In Leipzig two seasons, Sesco showed his willingness to pull back and connect with the midfield.

According to SkillCorner's tracking data, in the two seasons in the Bundesliga, he ranked very high in European forwards, whether it was short-range pickup or support for the ball-holder's running position. This shows that he can provide Cunia and Mbomo with fast and smooth short pass cooperation platforms.

But what Amorin really values is the center forward's long-distance running position to the wings - this kind of movement can open the defense line and create offensive space for the team's two No. 10.

Cesco adopted this running more in the first season, but as Leipzig's overall state declined, such running became rare. By contrast, Manchester United's current striker Rasmus Hoylen has always been willing to do such a run, although he is often on the edge in the offensive organization.

Under the coach of this Portuguese coach, Manchester United's style is based on slow and patient ball control - in the league last season, only Manchester City's straight pass speed was slower than them - but finding a forward to the wings is still a key tactical choice. Hoylen may be more keen on this kind of run, but the problem is how the ball is handled after it is passed to him..

Despite being 191cm tall, Hoylen's ability to compete for the top in the air was weak, winning only 25% of the air showdown last season - close to the bottom among European forwards. Cesco, who is 195cm tall, may be slightly inferior in movement, but his heading ability is enough to make up for it. The scatter plot below clearly shows that his air superiority is far superior to Hoylen (and Joshua Zilkze, who is also 191cm).

In addition, he has a much more successful pass every 90 minutes than the Danes - this trait is particularly important when the forward must withstand the defender and wait for his teammates to insert.

Manchester United's current offensive system is not enough to support strikers like Ellin Haaland - the type that cruiss around the penalty area and waits for a fatal blow. Their No. 9 needs to actively participate, fight hard, and deeply integrate into the offense. There is good evidence that Sesco is completely willing to do so.

But perhaps most encouraging is that he possesses a Haaland-like trait: no matter what the situation is behind him, he can always find and end opportunities. Leipzig has had ups and downs in both seasons, but Sesco has scored double-digit goals in both seasons.

In fact, the three new strikers of Manchester United scored more than 10 goals last season.

For them, the most direct way to establish tacit understanding and confidence is to bring this trait to the new team.