Manchester United’s transfer plans have taken a twist with the club cooling their long-standing interest in France striker Antoine Griezmann in order to focus their efforts on signing a target man to replace the injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Everton striker Romelu Lukaku, Torino’s Andrea Belotti, and Alvaro Morata, of Real Madrid, are among the No 9s under consideration after United opted against triggering the €100 million (£87 million) release clause in Griezmann’s contract with Atletico Madrid.

News that United were now prioritising a direct replacement for Ibrahimovic, who suffered a cruciate knee injury against Anderlecht on April 20 raising doubts about his future at Old Trafford, filtered out barely an hour after Atletico had a transfer ban upheld that will prevent them from registering new players this summer.

It was thought that United wanted a new, physical No 9 in addition to Griezmann, whom they had been pursuing for months, in the wake of Ibrahimovic’s injury and only last week senior sources at Old Trafford were indicating that the Atletico forward remained a target.