Manchester United “will have to offer €20 million or more” if they want to sign striker Mario Gomez, Besiktas president Fikret Orman has stated.
Gomez, 30, is currently on loan at Besiktas from Serie A side Fiorentina, although the Turkish club have a deal in place to make the move permanent at the end of the season.
Gomez’s impressive start to the season, that has brought eight goals in 11 appearances to help Besiktas to the top of the Super Lig, makes a permanent move all but assured.
However, reports have claimed Premier League club United are interested in the Germany international as manager Louis van Gaal looks to recruit a reliable goal-scorer to fix his team’s profligacy.
And Orman has warned United — and any other interested club — that Gomez will not be allowed to leave on the cheap.
“At the end of the season if any club wants Gomez they will have to offer €20 million (Dh78.7m) or more. I mean we are talking about a German international striker who has proven himself countless times at the highest level,” Orman was quoted as saying by Radyospor.
Recent praise from Van Gaal of Gomez led to the initial speculation linking United with the striker.
"I was manager of Bayern, and there the striker was Mario Gomez, and he touched the ball nine times as an average in a game," Van Gaal said in an interview with the Guardian.
“The highest was 14 balls but he scored every game and I don’t think that our strikers touch the ball less. It’s how the balls are coming to him, how he decides, how quick he is in dealing with the situation, it’s much more complicated than everyone is thinking.”
The National’s view
Since the departure of Robin van Persie, and to a lesser extent Javier Hernandez, Manchester United have severely lacked a striker that can produce a steady stream of goals. While Anthony Martial has so far proved a fine addition, both the Frenchman and captain Wayne Rooney are never going to produce the type of scoring figures needed to propel United to the title. A move for Mario Gomez, an authentic No 9, while not exactly fashionable, would certainly fit the profile of the player Louis van Gaal is looking for. It is more likely that a move for Gomez would occur if Van Gaal fails to lure more high-profile targets.
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