Teddy Sheringham tells Man Utd to ‘get on the phone’ and sign £100m Greece striker
Teddy Sheringham has urged Manchester United to sign Charalampos Kostoulas from Brighton and Hove Albion, with the former Red Devils striker also giving his verdict on whether the club’s co-owners, INEOS, should sack Michael Carrick as the manager.
Benjamin Sesko is the only senior natural number nine in the Man Utd squad at the moment.
While Matheus Cunha and Joshua Zirkzee can play as a striker, neither of them is at their best in that role.
With Sesko having shin injury issues at the moment, Marcus Rashford is another option for Man Utd manager Carrick to play as a striker.
However, Rashford, who spent last season on loan at Barcelona from Man Utd, is better off on the left wing.
Former Man Utd striker Sheringham believes that the club should do all they can to sign Kostoulas from Premier League rivals Brighton and Hove Albion.
The pundit was hugely impressed with the 19-year-old Greece international striker’s performance for Brighton against Arsenal in the Premier League before the international break.
The teenager scored a goal and provided an assist, as Brighton beat Arsenal 3-0 at the American Express Stadium.
According to Sheringham, Kostoulas looks like a player who will cost over £100million.
Man Utd urged to raid Brighton for Charalampos Kostoulas
Sheringham told Hajper: “I was impressed by Yasin Ayari.
“I mean, to get a result against Arsenal you have to be on top of your game, and everyone in that Brighton team was on the top of their game that day, but for me it was all about the centre-forward, Charalampos Kostoulas.
“Wow. What a player, and the goals he’s scoring too!
“I look at Charalampos Kostoulas and I see a striker who is a proper leader of the line.
“He will be the next £100 million plus player at Brighton who moves on somewhere else.
“He already looks on his way to being a £100 million player, without a shadow of a doubt.
“He doesn’t give a monkeys who he’s playing against or what else is happening on the pitch.
“He takes the game to the opposition either way, controls the ball, leads the line, scores goals, wins headers, brings players into play.
“I’ve been blown away by him so far. I think he’s the full package.
“Should Michael Carrick and Manchester United be getting on the phone to Brighton? Without a doubt.
“They have to get in before someone else does because he looks every bit a leader on the pitch, and he plays some beautiful stuff.”
Teddy Sheringham wants Michael Carrick to stay as Man Utd manager
Sheringham has also urged Man Utd co-owners, INEOS, to keep their faith in manager Carrick.
Man Utd have picked up just five points from five Premier League games so far this season.
Carrick’s side will take on Roberto De Zerbi’s Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford in the league on Saturday.
Sheringham said: “Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur, what a fixture!
“Who would have thought it would be a game where both managers are fighting for their lives at the start of the season.
“I don’t think it’s a case that whoever loses gets the sack on Monday morning. No way.
“There’s no way that Tottenham Hotspur can do that, anyway, not after the money they’ve spent and the backing they’ve given to Roberto De Zerbi as their manager.
“Not on your life. That shouldn’t be anywhere near their thoughts, no matter what people are saying.
“Manchester United, on the other hand, I wonder if they’re always thinking about?
“Maybe they are weighing up if they can sack Michael Carrick, and if it’s a disaster against Tottenham Hotspur, with what everyone is saying about the team lacking energy, and Carrick looking too laid back, it’s a load of rubbish but that stuff travels.
“It could well be in the minds of the Manchester United hierarchy thinking, are all these people right?
“I don’t think they’re right. Michael has his own way of doing things. He’s his own man. But the pressure on the club might end up being too much.
“It would be absolute madness to sack Michael Carrick in my book but that’s the kind of madness I can see spilling over into the hierarchy at Old Trafford based on the decisions they’ve already made in the past, so maybe that could be the case again.”
Sheringham continued: “Would a manager like Diego Simeone or Antonio Conte ever be an option for Manchester United? Probably not, no.
“They’re too pragmatic. We saw Jose Mourinho try and play his way at United and it just didn’t work for me, and I think Conte and Simeone would be the same.
“They’d definitely get that workmanlike effort and structure into the team, which we had under Sir Alex Ferguson, but there’s a big difference between what you ask your players to do defensively and understanding the need to play another way when you have the ball.
“Fergie understood United as a club. He knew the heritage of the Busby Babes and what supporters wanted to see in how their team should play.
“I don’t think Simeone would understand that or want to understand that if it meant having to change his methods and play a more expansive style of football.
“Managers know what they know and they know what works for him, and he would only come to Manchester United if he could be his own person, and I just don’t see how that could work.”
