Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand is unsure whether Christian Eriksen is good enough to command a regular starting role at the club.
Eriksen is currently a free agent after leaving Brentford at the end of the 21/22 season.
New United boss Erik ten Hag is keen to bring in Eriksen as he looks to boost his midfield options after the departures of Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard last month. And the Dane looks set to join after he 'verbally agreed' a three year deal.
Ferdinand has now had his say on the expected signing and the potential role that Eriksen could have at Old Trafford.
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He told Five: “I think Christian Eriksen is a squad player. He doesn’t come as a starter, I would be very surprised if he comes into Manchester United as a starter.”
“I think he’ll come in and play a particular role in and around it. The position he is likely to occupy will be similar to Bruno Fernandes and I don’t see him taking him out of the team.”
The former defender then spoke about whether both Eriksen and Fernandes can start in the midfield together.
Ferdinand said: “Can you play both? Yes, but then have you got the person defensively behind them to be able to mop things up and secure things behind them,? I question that.”
“So there is s lot of positives with him because I think he is a fantastic technician with fantastic ability but if he’s coming to be someone who fills in here and there, I can see that.”
He added: “But Man United fans are anticipating big names coming in the door.”
Eriksen is poised to be United’s second signing of the summer after the club confirmed the arrival of Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia, who joined from Feyenoord.
The club are hoping to bring in further signings this month, Ajax duo Lisandro Martinez and Antony are high on Ten Hag’s wish list, discussions have taken place between the two clubs but it has been reported that the clubs remain adrift in terms of transfer fees.
Ten Hag is also eager to bring in another player he coached during his time at Ajax, in the shape of Barcelona’s Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong. The United boss sees De Jong as an integral part of his plans at Old Trafford.
A deal for De Jong appeared to be inching ever closer but in the last few days, Barcelona’s president Joan Laporta has come out and said the midfielder is ‘not for sale’.
Cristiano Ronaldo's future also needs to be resolved, the player has expressed his desire to leave Old Trafford but the club are reluctant to let him go. The Portuguese great currently has one year left of his contract with United.
United will be setting off on their pre season tour of Thailand and Australia on Friday. Their first game of the tour will be against Liverpool on 12 July in Bangkok.
Topics: Rio Ferdinand, Christian Eriksen, Manchester United
Marcus Chan