Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony believes that Manchester United would compete for the Premier League title if they sign Brentford forward Ivan Toney this summer.

The 28-year-old missed the first half of the current campaign due to a footballing ban after bleeding guilty to over 200 betting charges, but he has five goals and assists in 11 games since returning to action in January.

Several top Premier League clubs have been linked with a summer move for Toney, including Man Utd, despite the form of Denmark international Rasmus Hojlund.

West Ham United have also emerged as strong contenders to sign the Brentford star, but MacAnthony believes that Man Utd would be foolish to pass up the opportunity to land Toney ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.

What has been said about Ivan Toney?

MacAnthony was interviewed by Sky Sports and he revealed his admiration for Toney, who spent two years at Peterborough before joining Brentford in 2020.

“I think he’s [Toney] not even in his prime yet, even though he’s turning 28, because of the type of striker he is,” MacAnthony said. “He’s not your run-in-behind [striker], he’s a bit of everything. He’s one of those players where his best football is ahead of him.

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“I honestly think… he turns Man Utd into a challenger for the Premier League. I think there’s five clubs in the world who could end up buying him and he would improve any of those clubs by a mile. I think he improves England.

He continued: “I think whoever buys him – £100 million would be well spent. Because if you’re getting a player who’s coming into his prime, you’re going to get five or six years of his best. He scored a goal every other game in the Premier League for Brentford [in 2022-23] and if you put him in a team in the top five or six with the chances they create [he’d succeed].

“They’re always trying to compare him to Ollie Watkins. Put Ivan in an Aston Villa team under [Unai] Emery and see how many goals he scores in the Premier League. He’d probably be up there for the Golden Boot.

“Put him in an Arsenal team, put him in a Liverpool or a Man Utd team and he scores 30 Premier League goals in his sleep in a season. I think anyone who disagrees with that hasn’t been watching for the last two-and-a-half years.”