Ex-Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves believes new signing Wout Weghorst has many qualities in common with France’s record scorer Olivier Giroud.

The former Arsenal and Chelsea striker was actually linked with a switch to Old Trafford earlier this month, before Weghorst arrived at the club, but Hargreaves thinks the Dutchman could do a similar job in leading the line:

“I know it’s probably not the sexiest signing in history but the money is not there for Manchester United and they needed a body through the door. Goalscoring has been one of the biggest issues, they’re one of the lowest-scoring teams in the top 10 so hopefully, he can address that.”

“Look at the impact Olivier Giroud has for France that’s not the most explosive guy in the world. He’s not Thierry Henry but he’s there when they need him. They’ve got enough creators when you think about Casemiro, Bruno, Eriksen and Marcus as well as Antony and Martial. They don’t need him to do anything but stand in the box and put the ball in the back of the net.”

Weghorst didn’t have a great time during his last spell in England with Burnley, scoring just twice in 20 appearances as the Clarets were relegated from the Premier League.

However, as we saw at the World Cup, the 30-year-old can be a handful, and he will have better players around him than he did at Turf Moor.

It remains to be seen, though, whether manager Erik ten Hag sees Weghorst as playing an important role or whether he is simply deemed to be a good option to have available on the substitutes bench.