Both Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen have suggested alternate paths for Manchester United to pursue in place of their Harry Kane pursuit.
A world-class No. 9 is at the top of the Dutchman's summer shopping list as he desperately seeks to give his team greater offensive danger and alleviate Marcus Rashford of the goal-scoring responsibility.
In recent months, the club has had its eye on a number of frontmen, but Kane has stood out as the best. The 29-year-old was sought after because he is a ready-made Premier League striker who can consistently score 25 or more goals per season.
Others within the club were apprehensive of negotiating with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, who has been famously obstinate despite the fact that their star is entering the final year of his contract. Ten Hag is alleged to have been "obsessed" with Kane.
United have been operating under the assumption that the deal is off since Levy has stated again that he will never trade Kane to a Premier League opponent. They haven't fully lost interest, but they are working on something else to avoid a repeat of the Frenkie De Jong disaster from the previous summer.
Rasmus Hojlund's name consistently comes up when discussing other striking players in Europe that are of interest. The 20-year-old is a younger option with potential after scoring 16 goals for Atalanta this season. This week, he reunited with his Danish teammates, notably Reds midfielder Eriksen, who reportedly predicted his transfer to Old Trafford.
“I can see him [Hojlund] at Manchester United, but I haven’t recommended him to Erik ten Hag,” Eriksen told Ekstra Bladet. “He is a fantastic guy and a good player and has really developed brilliantly at Atalanta. What the club ends up doing, I will not be able to answer.”
Eriksen is not the only United player throwing his name into the hat; fellow midfielder Fernandes had a similar viewpoint about Goncalo Ramos, a colleague from Portugal.
"The best always come in handy, be it Goncalo or another player," Fernandes told Sport TV (via A Bola) last month. "I think he has all the qualities to play in the Premier League, and when I say Premier League I also mean Manchester United."
"I think he could become a great reference in the coming years, but it's still not in my hands to be sports director."
Both Hojlund and Ramos, as well as Victor Osimhen of Napoli or Randal Kolo Muani of Eintracht Frankfurt, are targets for United. Given that the many selling clubs all maintain a firm grip on their own valuations, none are anticipated to be inexpensive.
However, it's believed that Ten Hag allotted a large amount of his initial transfer budget, which is estimated to be £120 million plus any proceeds from player sales, for a No. 9.
The Dutchman's chances of getting Kane seem less and less realistic, but there are still many top-tier possibilities available. He would be hoping that while on international duty, both Eriksen and Fernandes can perform their magic on mentioned objectives.