As manager Erik ten Hag recently revealed, the plan was to try and sign Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur and once that did not work out, the club opted to bring in the highly-rated Rasmus Hojlund.

Only 20 when he first arrived, the Dane’s debut season was always supposed to be a challenging one considering his age and the fact that he was in the Serie A for only one season.

The Dutchman wanted the Denmark international to play alongside an experienced professional however, the club failed to bring in someone both in January and last summer.

Striker needed

That meant the former Atalanta starlet was put under enormous pressure to deliver and while he has scored 14 goals and is the second top-scorer for the club, United needed a lot more from their centre forward.

Inconsistency was to be expected but the 20-time English league champions can ill afford another poor goalscoring campaign next term especially with Anthony Martial set to leave while Marcus Rashford’s future is clouded in uncertainty.

New co-owners INEOS have been strong advocates for recruiting young, Premier League-proven players and Brentford hitman Ivan Toney fit the bill and rumour mills have constantly linked the England international with a move to The Theatre of Dreams.

The current manager also is an admirer of the 28-year-old and he would be someone who could hit the ground running as he is well-versed with the demands of English football as seen from his 21 goals last season.

But if Football Transfers are to be believed, Sir Jim Ratcliffe is hesitant to bring in Toney due to his unsuitability to what INEOS are trying to build and United have exited the race, leaving West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur to fight it out for the Bees striker.

United exit Toney race

“West Ham and Tottenham are currently frontrunners in the race to secure the signature of Brentford striker Ivan Toney, Football Transfers can reveal.

“We have learned that Manchester United are exploring alternative options due to concerns from Ineos regarding Toney’s suitability for the club, this is in despite of manager Erik Ten Hag being a big fan of the England International.”

Toney is expected to cost in the vicinity of £50 million and with United grappling with PSR concerns, the club could be forced to look at alternative options.

Ideally, the three-time European champions need a readymade option and not a young, promising gem so that Hojlund can play more freely and without pressure while learning the ropes from the established star.

Whether the club can afford to bring in a low-cost option after the season they just had remains to be seen. INEOS need to be smart with their recruitment and that is why a new-look backroom team is being assembled. Hopefully, the fans are not disappointed with the recruitment once the summer window ends.

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Manchester United’s disappointing season will have left INEOS in no doubt of the size of the rebuild required at Old Trafford.

Erik ten Hag and his troops have underperformed throughout the campaign with the multiple attackers struggling this year.

United are comfortably the lowest scorers in the top half of the Premier League and will no doubt be adding an attacker or two to the ranks this summer.

With a raft of names being linked with bolstering United’s firepower, former United defender Paul Parker has weighed in on the debate.

Parker believes that Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins is the perfect fit for Old Trafford whilst dismissing the notion of Brentford’s Ivan Toney joining the club.

As reported by mybettingsites.co.uk, when asked if he felt Toney would provide a solution to aid Rasmus Hojlund in United’s attack, Parker’s answer was staunch.

“No. Not really. It’s got to be someone of more note than Ivan Toney.

“He hasn’t had enough points on the board as a Premier League striker to be in the position of having an understudy,” he said.

Then asked about Watkins, Parker described the Villa man as “the best all-round centre-forward in the league” and believes he is a much more of a suitable option to enhance United’s striking options.

“If you’re going to bring a centre-forward in and he’s going to be UK based, in my opinion you bring in Watkins. Look at how many goals he scores, his work rate off the ball, he’s so unselfish and still scores goals,” said Parker.

However, the former full-back believes United would need a nine-figure bid to get Watkins out of Villa Park but calls a £100 million price tag a “deserved one”.

Interestingly this a view shared by Treble winning striker Dwight Yorke who, in an exclusive interview with The Peoples Person, also advised United to ignore Toney in favour of Watkins.

Yorke feels Toney “isn’t a United player” and “wouldn’t fit the system” at Old Trafford.

“I would rather take a chance with Ollie Watkins. He’s lively, he runs down the channel, his movement is much better. Toney is okay, but he’s not that mobile,” Yorke had said.

With 26 goals and 12 assists to his name this season, Watkins has emerged as one of the leading strikers in the Premier League.

There is no doubt the 28-year-old has progressed hugely under the tutelage of Unai Emery with his boundless energy and new-found confidence in front goal catapulting Villa into the coveted Champions League places.

Toney is much more of a traditional number nine while Watkins’ desire to run the channels as well as get on the end of chances is much more akin to Ten Hag’s way of playing.

However Ten Hag cannot start thinking about summer signings with United needing to end the season strong in order for the Dutchman to be in the dugout next season.

The visit of Burnley to Old Trafford on Saturday is the first of five league games Ten Hag has to navigate before the FA Cup final against Manchester City on May 25 which could potentially decide his future.

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Erik ten Hag’s side are the lowest scoring side in the top ten of the Premier League, with only six teams in the entire division having produced fewer goals than United.

Despite being level on points with Newcastle, the Tyneside club have scored 22 more times, while local rivals Manchester City are 29 goals better off. They have even scored the same amount as newly-promoted Luton Town, whose club record signing cost as much as United pay Marcus Rashford in four months of wages.

Up until last weekend’s match against Bournemouth, the Red Devils’ top scorer in the league was Scott McTominay, with seven goals to his name. No other statistic is needed to encapsulate United’s struggles than that.

Understandably, therefore, a new number nine is a priority for the club this summer. And, in an interview courtesy of TvSportsGuide, Dwight Yorke spoke exclusively to The Peoples Person about exactly which player United should target for this position.

Yorke describes a productive striker as something “we are lacking in”, revealing United need “experience” and someone “who can score goals” if they are to improve next season. When pressed on who exactly should this signing should be, the former United striker believes there is only one player who fits the bill – Victor Osimhen.

“I would go for Osimhen,” Yorke states, revealing the Napoli striker is the “only person I can think of who could come in and and really elevate us to where we should be.”

While Osimhen has suffered something of a dip this year compared to the dizzying highs of last season, the Nigerian has still produced 15 goals and 4 assists in 28 games for the Italian side.

The Peoples Person suggested Ivan Toney as a counterpoint to Osimhen, given his age and potential transfer fee may be more suited to United’s likely budget, but Yorke disagreed. “I don’t think he is a United player. I’m not saying he’s not a good player…but I don’t think he’s a United player. I don’t think Toney fits United’s system.”

Instead, the former Aston Villa man offers the current Villans striker as a better option should United seek to recruit from within the Premier League. “I would rather take a chance with Ollie Watkins. He’s lively, he runs down the channel, his movement is much better. Toney is okay, but he’s not that mobile,” Yorke contends.

With 19 goals and 12 assists in the Premier League this season, Watkins is having a fantastic year as he helps drive Villa towards Champions League qualification. No player in England’s top division has produced more goal contributions than the 28-year-old striker.

And there would even be a parallel between Yorke and Watkins were the Englishman to switch to United from Villa at this stage of his career – something Yorke believes he “should take encouragement from” given the success Yorke enjoyed following the same move in 1998.

“[Watkins] is coming off his best season in the Premier League. If he has an outstanding Euros, that might be when United try to get him,” the former United striker states.

Interestingly, Yorke believes strikers are a “dying breed” at present, with not the greatest selection across Europe compared to five years ago, when there would have been a choice of “seven or eight top number nines” to target.

The 52-year-old player-turned-coach further rues United’s decision not to try for Harry Kane given the success the England captain has enjoyed at Bayern Munich this season: “…the opportunity of having Harry Kane last year, which we should have gone for but [it] didn’t happen.”

This scarcity of world class strikers is likely what drove the exorbitant price tag for Rasmus Hojlund – signed for £72 million from Atalanta, despite only one season of experience in a top European league.

Yorke reveals he had “never heard of [Hojlund] before, until he came to United,” believing he is still firmly in the “learning curve” stage, rather than the “ready made striker who can score twenty plus goals” United are used to leading their line. “It will take him a little while before he sort of hits that level,” Yorke concludes.

Without question, a new striker would help relieve the burden currently on the young Dane’s shoulders and be a massive boost to a team desperately short on goals. Whether that player is Osimhen, Watkins, or Toney may simply boil down to how much money United are able to spend this summer, although the current executive branch at Old Trafford would undoubtedly be overjoyed to sign another Dwight Yorke if possible.

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United have recently emerged as dark horses in the race to secure Toney’s services, as Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS plot to bolster the club’s attacking department.

Arsenal and Chelsea were thought to be the frontrunners to lend the England international but it was recently relayed that both London clubs have since cooled their interest.

It’s believed that Arsenal and Chelsea harbour reservations about the age of the 28-year-old Toney.

A previous report covered by The Peoples Person stated that Brentford have slashed their asking price for their star man, amidst mounting interest in him.

The Bees had slapped an £80million price tag on him in January but it’s now thought that a fee in the region of £30-40m could get a deal over the line – a relatively small price to pay for a talisman of Toney’s abilities and reputation.

The Sun have now given more information on United’s pursuit of Toney and have revealed the player’s wage demands.

According to the newspaper, “Ivan Toney is hoping to pocket MORE than Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes if he joins the Red Devils this summer.”

“The issue for many suitors is the combination of Brentford’s fee and Toney’s expected wages, which are understood to be around £250k per week.”

“This number – which amounts to £13m per year- is also why Brentford aren’t close to an extension.”

“If Toney were to join the Red Devils on his preferred wages, he’d collect £10k more per week than their skipper Fernandes.”

The Sun points out that Mason Mount and Anthony Martial – who is on track to part ways with United in June – both currently earn the £250k weekly sum that Toney desires.

Casemiro is the club’s highest earner, with Raphael Varane, Marcus Rashford and on-loan forward Jadon Sancho all pocketing around £300,000 or more per week.

The 20-time English champions carry the Premier League’s fourth-largest wage bill, and it’s unclear if they will shy away from meeting Toney’s demands.

Toney only currently earns a reported £36k-a-week at the Gtech Community Stadium after he put pen to paper on fresh terms in September 2020.

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Manchester United have received a massive boost in their pursuit of Ivan Toney as major competitors, Chelsea and Arsenal have reportedly cooled their interest in the Englishman.

The Red Devils are in dire need of attacking depth.

They have struggled all season in front of goal and youngster Rasmus Hojlund has rather unfairly been tasked with shouldering most of the attacking burden.

The 21 year old has had mixed success with a purple patch in the Champions League and a strong run of form in January and February in the league, mixed in with goal and shot droughts.

However, Marcus Rashford’s lack of form and Anthony Martial’s predictable lack of fitness has meant United have been light all season up front and this led Erik ten Hag to admit in his pre-match press conference against Bournemouth that the club was targeting a proven goal scorer in the summer.

This has seen the club linked to players like Harry Kane, Victor Osimhen and Benjamin Sesko.

However, one interesting name to emerge as of late, is that of Ivan Toney.

The 28 year old has been increasingly connected to the Old Trafford side and reliable journalist, Fabrizio Romano, claimed that the Red Devils were certainly looking at the England international as an option for the summer.

It has also been reported lately that Brentford have slashed their price for the striker, with £30-40m possibly being enough to get a deal done, instead of previous figure thought to be around £60-80m.

And following this trend of good news for United, The Mirror reports that Ten Hag’s men may just have a clearer run at the forward should they decide to firm up their interest this summer.

The outlet reports that “Manchester United have emerged as potential dark horses in the race to sign Ivan Toney”.

“The England international is due to enter the final 12 months of his Brentford contract this summer and therefore could be available for a cut-price between £40 million and £50m”.

“Arsenal are understood to have cooled their interest as they continue to monitor Sporting’s Viktor Gyokeres and RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko while Chelsea are thought to be prioritising alternative striker targets”.

Whilst “Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS are thought to favour signing young players with high potential moving forward, however, Toney’s experience and availability makes him an undeniably attractive option”.

Moreover, with United already basing their attack around the 19 year old Alejandro Garnacho and 21 year old Hojlund, perhaps a bit of know-how and experience would be beneficial for the United attack.

The striker is certainly a proven scorer, having banged in 20 goals last season in the Premier League for the Bees.

Were his price to really be around the £40m mark and the club had a much freer run at the player than first thought, it may just be a deal worth doing for INEOS.

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