Manchester United legend Patrice Evra says he’s a big fan of Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix amid the recent transfer rumours linking him as a target for the Red Devils.
However, the Frenchman is unconvinced that Felix is the kind of player Man Utd need right now, saying he wants to see an out-and-out goal poacher join, rather than someone who will bring style, flair or beauty to Erik ten Hag’s side.
Evra feels United are crying out for someone completely different, saying he wants to see them sign someone like Filippo Inzaghi – a player who doesn’t look particularly good to watch, but who somehow ends the season with an impressive goal tally.
“I love Joao Felix and I loved what a great World Cup he had,” Evra told Betfair, as quoted by the Metro.
“I’m quite surprised that things haven’t worked out with Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid, but he’s a fantastic player.
“If he does move to the UK, he will enjoy playing in the Premier League in any team. I don’t want to talk him up as a target for Manchester United because whenever we talk United targets they never end up signing.
“He’s an excellent player and if he’s not happy at Atletico, the Premier League will welcome him with open arms.
“We need to replace the 20 goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, so it’s logical that we need another attacker. We can play Martial, Garnacho and Rashford but we need a killer, someone who lives for goals.
“I don’t care if they perform well, I just want them to score goals. That’s why I don’t think Joao Felix is the right type of player for United right now.
“I don’t want United to look beautiful. With players like Felix people will say how beautiful we look with the way we play, I don’t care about that.
“I want us to look ugly and have a player like Filippo Inzaghi and have people saying “who the hell is this he can’t even dribble” but at the end of the season he’s scored more than 20 goals. Where will we find that kind of striker? That is the question.
“You don’t bring a player in just to make the fans happy or for commercial business. Right now they need to bring someone in who is coming just to score goals.”
Felix could provide a goal threat and give MUFC more spark and creativity in attack, but he’s not really an Inzaghi-style penalty box player, so it remains to be seen if he’d have the desired effect.
However, one imagines a manager like Ten Hag would see more value in bringing in an all-rounder like Felix than someone who just waits in the box to finish moves off without contributing in other areas.