Manchester United was among the teams connected with Ivan Toney in the summer transfer window, but it has revealed that they passed on a deal for the ex-Brentford man for one major reason.
Manchester United rejected a move for Ivan Toney during the summer window because they were dissatisfied with his pushing.
The Red Devils entered the summer with a new forward at the top of their wish list. They were connected with many attackers before deciding on Joshua Zirkzee, who came from Bologna for £36 million in July.
They were among a number of teams said to be interested in Toney, 28, both before and after Zirkzee’s arrival, as the England star wanted a move abroad – but United were wary of the move.
Toney did not make United’s final shortlist for a striker to support Rasmus Hojlund, despite being considered originally.
As ESPN reported, Toney simply did not suit the type of the attacker that Ten Hag was seeking for since, in the perspective of the United manager, he does not push defenses aggressively enough.
Toney was linked with many prominent Premier League teams before the summer, including Arsenal and Chelsea. Neither sought to sign him from Brentford before last month’s deadline. The Bees were always anticipating to trade their best asset because he was in the final year of his contract, and Toney was eventually transferred to Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli.
Mirror Football claimed shortly after Toney signed a contract in the Middle East that he will earn a remarkable £403,000 per week, including bonuses, after transferring for a huge £40 million transfer price. He has already scored twice in his first two league games for Al-Ahli, who are now sixth in the Saudi Pro League rankings.
Meanwhile, Zirkzee had an excellent start to his Manchester United career by scoring the winner on his debut against Fulham at the beginning of August. However, the Netherlands international has not scored in his last five appearances.
United were helped by the return of Hojlund in their last encounter, a 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace, which provided further competition up front. The Dane missed the first four games of the current Premier League season due to a hamstring injury before appearing for the last quarter of an hour at Selhurst Park on Saturday night.
