Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand pinpoint Erik ten Hag's Man Utd transfer howler

20 September 2023 , 18:48

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Erik ten Hag is feeling the heat at Manchester United (Image: Getty Images)

Paul Scholes believes Erik ten Hag has failed to make Manchester United's starting XI better with his summer transfers - with Rio Ferdinand also digging out the club's business.

United have endured a difficult start to the season under Ten Hag. Although the Red Devils defeated Wolves and Nottingham Forest, they were beaten by Arsenal, Tottenham and Brighton - with the latter side winning 3-1 at Old Trafford last Saturday.

Scholes was asked about United's tricky start before their Champions League game against Bayern Munich on Wednesday. He told TNT Sports: "I think they are on a very similar path to last season. They had a really bad start (last term) and a poor start this season.

"I thought after last year they were going in a different direction and were starting to take this club somewhere. He sorted the discipline and then I thought in the summer, he was going to spend £200million to take this club to the next level.

"I don’t think the signings have done that. I think he has made his squad stronger, but I don’t think he has made it better. I don’t think he has made a team that can challenge for the Premier League title or for the competition they are in tonight."

Marcel Sabitzer completes Man Utd transfer after last-minute deadline day dash

Ten Hag signed seven new players during the summer transfer window. Mason Mount, Jonny Evans, Andre Onana, Rasmus Hojlund and Altay Bayindir were all signed on permanent deals, while Sergio Regulion and Sofyan Amrabat completed loan moves.

In terms of exits, David de Gea, Fred, Alex Telles, Anthony Elanga, Dean Henderson, Phil Jones and Eric Bailly were among those allowed to leave Old Trafford.

Paul Scholes believes Ten Hag has got his transfers wrong (Getty Images)

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Scholes' TNT Sports colleague Ferdinand believes United need to recruit smarter by adopting Brighton's transfer policy. The Seagulls have brought in several high-quality players for low transfer fees in recent years, including Kaoru Mitoma and Evan Ferguson.

Ferdinand said: "When you look at Brighton, they are a team over the last three or four years that have been building in terms of a structure and foundation at a football club, and you can see the way it’s playing out with their recruitment, and even their manager.

"We talk about rotation and changing of players. I think they changed five or six players against them, the player that scored a hat-trick the week before (Ferguson) was on the bench. So, they are getting the best out of every single player in their squad, whereas at Manchester United, that’s not happening."

Oliver King