Former Liverpool player Danny Murphy claims Christian Eriksen is not the type of player you sign if you want to compete with Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea.
Christian Eriksen has agreed in principle to join Manchester United on a three years deal after deciding to leave Brentford. The 30-year-old Danish international joined Brentford in January on a six month deal after making a miraculous comeback to football after suffering cardiac arrest in a group stage match in the Euro 2020 Championship against Finland.
The Danish international scored one goal and provided 4 assists in 11 appearances for Brentford. Manchester United had to beat competition from Tottenham and Brentford to sign their second signing of the summer after completing a £15 million deal for Feyenoord left-back Tyrell Malacia.
However, Danny Murphy believes Eriksen has what it takes to improve the Manchester United squad but added he is not a statement signing that will excite Manchester United fans.
What did Danny Murphy say about Manchester United signing Christian Eriksen?
The former Liverpool player said on the White and Jordan show: “It’s a difficult one because I really like Eriksen. I’ve always admired him in terms of his creativity and the way he’s free with his football and tries things.
“Would it excite me if I was a United fan? He’s going to be a squad player, isn’t he? He’s not going to play instead of [Bruno] Fernandes.”
Asked if he’s a world-class player, Murphy said: “No. He’s a welcome addition to any squad because he has the experience and he has quality, but if you’re looking at the big games where United compete with Liverpool, City, and Chelsea, is he going to play in their first 11?
“No, is the answer, if they want to be competitive.”
Danny Murphy continued: “You can’t play him and Fernandes. He’s a number 10 or a number 8. [Paul] Pogba and Fernandes played together on occasion, but not very often and that’s why United was so easy to play against at times.
“If they have two holding players or get [Frenkie] De Jong in, Eriksen could temporarily play as a holding midfielder, but he’s not a holding midfielder.
“He’s not going to be instead of De Jong. They’ll go for someone like De Jong if they can’t get him.
“For Eriksen, it’s a wonderful opportunity to be at a huge club again after everything he’s been through.
“I can understand why he’d go there, I understand why the draw of Man United would get him over the line, but in the cold light of day if they want to be competitive with Liverpool, City and Chelsea, that’s not the type of signing that United should be making.”
Manchester United will be traveling to the United States for their pre-season on Friday and are expected to play Liverpool four days later on the 12 of July.
Cristiano Ronaldo was expected to arrive for pre-season today but missed due to family issues amid transfer speculation.
