Former Sunderland and Leeds player Micky Gray has piled into Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku.
Gray was talking on the Jim White show on talkSPORT (Tuesday, 11am) when he was asked about the current state of the United squad.
He wasn’t very complimentary, saying up to eight stars had to go, with Anthony Martial at the top of the list.
However, he singled out striker Romelu Lukaku – on a reported £180k-a-week at Old Trafford, for the worst criticism.
“He’s got the worst first touch I’ve ever seen in any striker playing in the Premier League,” Gray said.
“I’m not saying he’s a bad player, he’s a good player, but he’s not Manchester United.
“He [Ole] has got to shift eight players out from the squad. That’s very difficult to do. That’s me being very honest with you. They need to bring in players who are the right fit for Manchester United.”
OPINION
Well, the honeymoon period didn’t last too long for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and he won’t need Gray to tell him the size of the task that’s facing him in the summer. That’s a lot of pressure for a manager who has hardly any experience at the top level. Many people were calling for Solskjaer to be made the permanent manager after a brilliant start to his reign, but we bet Man United are wishing they’d waited now. We completely agree with Gray’s comments on Lukaku. The striker scores goals, that much is obvious, but he wouldn’t get in the Man City or Liverpool teams and he doesn’t fit in with the modern style of football in the Premier League. Man United should cash in while they can still get a big fee for him and build a team back up in the image of Man United. That’s not going to be easy, at all.