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Dwight Yorke picks out two players as he shares concern about Man United’s transfer business
The general feeling around Manchester United is that Ineos recruited well in what was their first summer window in charge of the club.
Five new first-team recruits were added to Erik ten Hag‘s squad to add quality and depth where needed.
Manchester United’s first signing of the summer was the £36m arrival of Joshua Zirkzee, who provided some much-needed depth in the striker department.
Leny Yoro also arrived in July after a £52m agreement was struck while Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt arrived in a double deal from Bayern Munich to add even more muscle to United’s defence.
The final target of the summer was a central midfielder, and while United left it late, they eventually got a £42m deal over the line for PSG’s Manuel Ugarte – who could make his debut for the club on Saturday against Southampton.
This summer’s business was enough to put a smile on the faces of most fans, but former United striker Dwight Yorke still has concerns.
Dwight Yorke unsure about Man United’s transfer business
There appeared to be a notable change in transfer strategy this summer with the new recruitment team targeting young and upcoming stars while walking away from any deals they deemed overpriced.
However, Yorke believes that United’s transfer targets do not match the “elite” level of player that the club is usually associated with – especially up front.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Yorke said: “I’m still not sure. My opinion on United at the moment, I think that right now United are buying players to finish fourth.
“What I mean by that is the players we are bringing in are very good players. They are not bad. But they are not the elite players that United are normally associated with. So you will only get that type of performance we need to get back into the top four.
“You look at Zirkzee, he’s not really a starter in Holland. Rasmus [Hojlund] is a starter but the Euros wasn’t particularly great for him. So it shows the kind of work they still have to do.
“And on top of that, they are playing in a team which is not high on confidence so that just makes it even more difficult.
“It’s okay if you are coming into a team that controls possession, dominates teams, makes chances – then you’ll fit right in.
“But the moment United are not doing that, they’re really struggling. So even though these players are good players and they are alright – they’re never going to take the team to another level.
“So that, for me, is a little bit concerning.”
Man United are headed in the right direction
The Red Devils have tried buying ready-made stars in recent windows and it has backfired miserably.
The club has lacked a real direction and identity in recent seasons and getting that right is far more important than splashing the cash on a big-name star.
READ MORE: Ronald Koeman has made key decision on Man United’s Joshua Zirkzee after he showed ‘pure quality’
Ineos are taking steps in the right direction by targeting players who can continue to develop at Old Trafford while all buying into the same style of play.
As for the striker department, it would be great to have four world-class strikers like United did with Yorke in 1999, but in Zirkzee and Hojlund the club has two highly-promising forwards who both offer something different.
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