Man Utd’s Ivan Toney thinking is WRONG

Robin Bairner

• 25 Apr 2024 08:25 BST
• 4 min read

Manchester United are reconsidering their stance on Brentford striker Ivan Toney, with the centre-forward once again a candidate to move to Old Trafford in the summer.

Toney is back in action for the Bees after missing much of the first half of the season due to a gambling-related ban, yet his role has grown increasingly peripheral after making an explosive return.

The 28-year-old scored four times in his first five matches, including strikes against Tottenham and Liverpool, yet since then he has gone eight appearances without netting.

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Out of contract next summer, Toney will be available for a cut-price fee this time around, with the latest reports suggesting Brentford will sell for in the region of €60 million (£50m).

Having been dropped to the bench, though, there has to be a legitimate question of whether he is even worth this.

In any case, 90Mins reports that Man Utd want to sign Toney for his “confidence that borders on swagger” and the “experience” he would bring to their dressing room.

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Toney is not what Man Utd need

A player who has the “swagger” of Toney will expect to start games regularly, and as previously explained, that promises to be counterproductive to the development of Rasmus Hojlund.

The Dane is clearly the superior striker and, given his rapid improvement, disrupting his status as the leading striker in the squad would be a needless move on the part of the Old Trafford hierarchy.

He needs support, sure, but not someone who is poised to come in and shake up the status quo. Given the striker's reported wage demands, he is not going to join quietly.

As for his “experience”, Toney has 81 Premier League games to his credit over his career and has never played European football.

A spell at Newcastle, when they were a considerably weaker team, he has never played for a club with the expectations and the standards of a Man Utd.

His determination to reach the top of the game has been commendable, but is this a transferable skill to a club of the Red Devils’ standing?

It appears that the Red Devils’ leaders believe so, yet there is little doubt that Toney represents a gamble - and an expensive one at that. Man Utd were meant to be beyond all of this.