This season, Manchester United has not performed as a team, but rather as 11 different players.

Their eighth-place standing in the Premier League reflects that, although Erik ten Hag’s main problem has been in the last third.

The manager will want to add someone to his attack to strengthen it because the Red Devils have only scored 1.14 goals per game in the premier league.

Man United’s next striker target has been determined.

Ivan Toney, an experienced Premier League scorer for England, is reportedly attracting interest from Man United, according to a recent article from The Athletic.

Ivan, Toney, Thomas, Brentford, and Frank
Brentford apparently values the striker at £100 million and will only accept a bid that is in line with their assessment. However, a trade this January could not be feasible given the high price tag and United’s financial fair play limitations.

Cho-Jadon-Bukayo-Saka
The numbers suggest Toney would succeed at Manchester United

Over the past ten years, a number of players have filled the striker position, but none of them have been able to successfully hold down the position for an extended period of time or on a permanent basis with much success.

To be honest, no one has been able to match the achievements of Robin Van Persie during the 2012–13 Premier League season, when he helped United win the top division and earned the Golden Boot with 26 goals and 15 assists.

Robin van Persie wins on the road at Southampton
Toney, though, has the potential to follow in the footsteps of the Dutch legend and become United’s best striker since Van Persie at Old Trafford.

Since getting promoted in 2021, the Bees star has shown that he is on par with the best strikers in the division; his 20-goal season the previous season further cemented his standing in the upper echelons of the game. The 27-year-old made his debut last weekend after serving a suspension in May, and he came back stronger than ever, scoring and leading his team to their first victory in seven games.

However, Toney’s season-ending numbers and his positional counterparts’ comparisons are shown in the table below.

Toney’s Premier League stats for 2022–2023

Statistics (per 90)

Toney

PL Percentile

Objectives

0.61

Top 11%

xG

0.57

top 14%

Objectives + Help

0.73

upper 18%

reaches the last third

1.65

upper 18%

The aerials prevailed.

3.32

Top 9%

Statistics through FBref

The former Newcastle player is a true target man who enjoys bullying defenders throughout the game, despite his plenty of technical skill. Because Rasmus Hojlund is still getting used to life in the Premier League after only 16 appearances, and Anthony Martial is also dealing with injuries, United has been without a consistent goal scorer to lead the line for some time.

Talent scout Jacek Kulig describes Toney as a “prolific” finisher, which is supported by his goals per ninety ratio and overperformance of xG. This is in contrast to the previously stated tandem. In addition to his intelligence, he has the ability to drop deeper and advance the ball into the final third.

As part of Ten Hag’s concept, the English striker would make United far more unpredictable in attack and improve the performance of the entire squad, particularly when playing out from the back. This is a result of Toney’s agility and air power, which means they would always have a direct outball to target.

ivan-toney-premie-league-brentford
Overall, Toney might have a huge impact on United, much like Van Persie had more than a decade ago. Ineos made a brilliant move by signing him this summer, and the club may finally have a clinical and dependable center-forward because he is a deadly player at this level.