Christian Pulisic has shown his desire can't be questioned amid Manchester United links

Manchester United need reinforcements for their forward line in January. Cristiano Ronaldo's departure may be best for the club and manager Erik ten Hag, but it has left them light up top, and the team needs to score more in general.

To that end, a number of attackers have been linked with a mid-season move. Cody Gakpo has been touted but given he is playing a starring role with the Netherlands during the World Cup, he will likely command a high price.

So what are the alternatives? Well one low-cost solution United have been linked with is a loan move for Chelsea's Christian Pulisic.

Chelsea signed Pulisic in 2019 from Borussia Dortmund for around £57.6m and though he is an extremely talented individual, he has never fully delivered on his potential at the London club. Though at 24 years old he still has time to become the player many expected him to develop into.

And he has shown glimpses of this during the United States World Cup campaign.

He provided the assist for Timothy Weah's opener against Wales. The winger slotted the ball through the midfield and found the striker through on goal where he slotted it home.

And on Tuesday night he showed United fans why they shouldn't be worried over his commitment to doing everything to get the win should he join the club. Pulisic scored the winning goal which sent the USA through to the knockout rounds where they will face the Netherlands - and injured himself in the process.

The 24-year-old was taken to hospital as a precaution but later posted a message to his Instagram stating that he was fine and would be available for Saturday's game against Louis van Gaal's men.

If United were to loan Pulisic he may not be the long-term fix to United's problems, but he would offer a directness that the team have been missing. Though there is the flipside that signing him would block Alejandro Garnacho's path to the first team.

Also, there is still the question mark of how many goals Pulisic would actually add to the forward line, which is crucial if United want to be in the top four at the end of the season.