Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy believes signing Brentford midfielder Christian Eriksen this summer will not bode well for Manchester United.
The 30-year-old midfielder joined Brentford in January after recovering from a cardiac arrest, which he suffered in Denmark's Euro 2020 opener against Finland. With his six-month contract with The Bees set to expire this month, the Dane has been linked with a number of clubs.
According to The Times, Tottenham Hotspur and Brentford have been "left in the dark" as Eriksen is said to be considering an offer to join Manchester United.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Murphy insisted that the Red Devils will "finish worse than they did last season" if they sign the Denmark international.
"If you look at the Manchester United option, I don’t see that. If Ten Hag thinks he’s going to play Eriksen and [Bruno] Fernandes in the same team in the midfield with only one holding player, they’ll end up finishing worse off than they did this season."
He continued:
"Unless he’s going to bring him in as back-up to Fernandes to play as a No.10, or is he going to play him as a central midfielder? If you’re talking about bringing [Frenkie] De Jong and Eriksen in, where’s the legs, where’s the tenacity, where’s the tough tackling and physical presence? There isn’t one!"
He further added:
"It’s a strange one for United why they’d want Eriksen, I don’t get that. They’ve got enough attacking players and creative players."
Since joining The Bees in last campaign's winter transfer window, Eriksen has featured in 11 matches in the Premier League, registering one goal and four assists.
Manchester United aim to strengthen midfield this summer
The Red Devils are dipping their feet in the transfer market to make sure Cristiano Ronaldo better service next season. The club are short of midfielders going into the 2022-23 season. Paul Pogba will end his six-year second stint at Old Trafford later this month, while Juan Mata is also set to leave the club. Jesse Lingard is also out of his contract and Nemanja Matic has already joined Serie A outfit AS Roma.
According to Goal, Ten Hag has voiced his demands to Manchester United, claiming he wants to sign both Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong and Brentford playmaker Christian Eriksen this summer.
Furthermore, the club are also linked with Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Ruben Neves. According to Jornal di Noticias [via football 365], the Red Devils are still in the running to sign the Portuguese midfielder. Neves' knack for long, accurate diagonals to find the poacher up top could certainly be a massive positive for Manchester United.