Paul Ince reckons Manchester United are copying Liverpool's model to success - but has warned Ole Gunnar Solskjaer that selling Romelu Lukaku was a risk.
United have brought in their own Virgil van Dijk clone in Harry Maguire this summer - who broke the Dutchman's transfer fee record when he move to Old Trafford from Leicester for £80million.
The Red Devils have also replicated the Reds' famed pacy front three of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino with Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford.
But in doing so, the Red Devils saw front man Lukaku leave to join Inter Milan, and Ince thinks Solskjaer has piled the pressure on his young strikers to fire.
"I look at United and I feel like they’re almost copying a Liverpool model," Ince told Paddy Power.
"They got Virgil van Dijk in and United got Harry Maguire in, and it seems they’ve gone for three forwards too, pacey players like [Anthony] Martial, [Jesse] Lingard and [Marcus] Rashford – I don’t see where Lukaku fits into that – so I’m not surprised Ole let him go.
"But that does put extra pressure on the younger lads to find the net. The fact is, Lukaku is a goalscorer, he’s always been a natural goalscorer but the ball has to be placed right in front of him.
"He has to be fed and he will score you goals, and I’m sure he’ll show that at Inter Milan.
"Having played there myself, it’s a great move for him. It’s a wonderful club and a wonderful place to live, it’ll be a great experience. The expectations will be huge on him because he’s come from United, and there’ll be nowhere to hide, but he should relish that.
“It’s a tough one with Romelu Lukaku, because the fact of the matter is he is always going to score you goals. Last season you could see the signs that he wasn’t happy, that he wanted to leave.
"There were signs that the end was approaching for him, but what he does offer is guaranteed goals in the net.
"As a club, for United to suddenly lose 20 or so goals that he nets, that’s a big loss and they should have replaced him – his goals will be missed.
"It puts a lot of pressure on Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial. In my eyes, for United to be performing well, Rashford needs to be netting 20-25 goals this season and I’m not yet sure if he’ll do that."
- Paul Ince was speaking for Paddy Power's new Pitch Invader magazine, which is available in their stores on Monday.
