As Manchester United's pursuit for a striker continues, Rio Ferdinand was adamant the club will not be signing one target the Red Devils have previously been linked with
Rio Ferdinand has confidently shut down any suggestion Manchester United will make a move for Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta. The Red Devils have made no secret about their desire to bolster their forward line.
They have already brought in Matheus Cunha for £62.5million and recently unveiled £71m signing Bryan Mbeumo. However, the Red Devils are still looking for a new centre-forward, two seasons after forking out £72m on Rasmus Hojlund.
RB Leipzig forward Benjamin Sesko has been one target of interest, while Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins has emerged as the latest priority. In and amongst the latest reports, Mateta has also been linked to Old Trafford in the past.
But when the possibility of the Frenchman moving to United was touted to Ferdinand, the Premier League legend immediately shut down the possibility. Speaking on his Rio Ferdinand Presents show, the ex-United and England captain replied: "We ain’t signing Mateta. Trust me."
In March, United were told that Mateta would set them back £40m. Reports from L'Equipe at the time also claimed the Red Devils had opened talks with the Eagles about a move for the 28-year-old.
However, the rumours have since petered out, with United seemingly looking at other targets. They have already seen moves for the likes of Liam Delap, Hugo Ekitike and Viktor Gyokeres fail, joining rivals Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal respectively.
Mateta struggled when he first started at Palace but has been one of the Premier League's most dangerous forwards since Oliver Glasner took over. Under the Austrian manager, he has contributed 30 goals and five assists in 59 appearances in all competitions.
However, for whatever reason, United are seemingly looking elsewhere. Ferdinand has been following United's pre-season tour of the USA, where they recently beat West Ham 2-1 in the Premier League Summer Series.
While the memories of last season's disastrous campaign are still fresh, Ferdinand has seen some positive signs this summer. Commenting on United’s transfer window so far, he added: "For me personally, I’m hopeful more than anything.
"There is nothing to give me belief yet. I need to see it. The belief is that we have got two good signings who know the Premier League. That’s nice, that’s good, that’s needed.
"Again, I think we probably need one or two more to go into the season and go, 'Listen, I’m confident we can now go and finish in the top eight.' At the moment, I am sitting there thinking, 'There’s a lot of hangover from last season.’
"If you start actually digging into last season, it starts depressing me. But the new signings give you a bit of hope. Being out on tour helps you get a different perspective.
"It guides you and you’re now going, 'Oh, I can see them working, I can see some positive things, the team are together, the manager is getting time with the team.’ I am looking for positives.”