Manchester United legend Paul Scholes criticised the club’s recruitment policy, claiming that they only target players no one else desired. United are currently 13th in the Premier League table after suffering a horrible season filled with inconsistent and disappointing performances.
The Red Devils sacked Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim succeeded the Dutchman in the middle of the current season. Amorim enforced his style of play immediately but the squad he inherited has failed to adjust to the new demands.
The former Sporting CP manager needs to use the next summer transfer window to carefully sign the players he needs. However, Man United are facing severe financial issues after years of frivolous spending in the transfer market and off-field problems.
The Red Devils also signed several players according to Ten Hag’s needs yet those players failed to meet their expectations. Many of these senior players are under huge wages and joined for a massive transfer fee, crippling the club’s finances.
Speaking to Premier League productions (via Daily Mail), Scholes criticised the recruitment policy of United as they targeted undesired players. Furthermore, Scholes named Joshua Zirkzee, Manual Ugarte and Antony as prime examples of players who joined for a huge price. He said:
“Ruben Amorim hasn’t got the ammunition at the moment to go out and score goals. He’s got Bruno who’s capable but the others aren’t goalscorers. You look at the recruitment for the last few years and think, how on earth have United only got one centre-forward who doesn’t score goals? It’s incredible. I don’t remember there being much competition for some of the players they’ve signed. I don’t remember there being a fight for [Joshua] Zirkzee, Ugarte, Antony. They’re not fighting for players who other teams want and that’s possibly a problem as well. It’s bad recruitment, terrible recruitment.”
The Red Devil’s poor recruitment are indeed haunting them as Amorim needs to sell players to raise his transfer budget. A club of United’s stature should not resort to such tactics but that is now the reality of how things will happen for a while.
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Amorim would hope that some of these fringe players would procure decent income with Saudi Pro League kind of high-spending powers capable of signing players like Casemiro due to their reputation. Rest assured, the summer transfer window is a big test for Amorim and the club’s management to get things right.
The Red Devils cannot afford more failures from their potential recruits next summer or risk falling further behind.