Former Manchester United star warns against signing Ivan Toney

Manchester United looking to sign Ivan Toney ‘doesn’t make much sense’ to former Red Devils star Paul Parker, who thinks they need to strengthen in wide areas instead.

Toney looks likely to leave Brentford this summer after being left out of their squad on the opening weekend of the Premier League season.

The likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea have all been linked with the England international, while a move to Saudi Arabia is also a possibility.

The Red Devils already have Rasmus Hojlund and summer signing Joshua Zirkzee as options up front and Parker is not sure Toney would be a worthwhile addition to the squad at Old Trafford.

‘Sir Alex [Ferguson] had strikers but that was with a smaller squad. He could utilise the players more,’ Parker told bettingexpert.com. ‘The players accepted it when the manager wanted to keep a winning team. They weren’t spoiled brats then, as they are now. They were better players than what they are now.

‘Signing Ivan Toney doesn’t make much sense to me. Another centre forward who thinks he’s a number ten.That’s the bit I’m trying to work out now. Why would they want to do that?’

The former United and England full-back feels the Red Devils should be looking to sign a winger as he doesn’t have much complimentary to say about those filling the wide roles at the moment.

‘If United want to become a great side they can’t be relying on one goal scorer,’ he said. ‘But the one area they’re lacking and where they’re lacking consistency, which has been showing all of last season, which is a big, big problem, is in wide areas because no one really knows what the wide players do consistently.

‘I mean, the one thing I think we do know is they play for themselves. So that’s all they do, really. They’re not playing for the team. They don’t make a lot of goals. They don’t cross the ball early. They’re shooting from wide areas.

‘One thing they’re consistent in is when they do get the ball, they run across the front of the box and try to bend the ball in all the time. I’ve seen so many good wide players and they’re not big names.’

Manchester United seem unlikely to add a winger to their squad before the close of the transfer window, with central midfield their priority as they continue to chase Manuel Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain.

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