Former first-team coach Rene Meulensteen says he is very concerned about the lack of business the club have done so far this summer.
United are yet to make a signing this transfer window, although Erik ten Hag’s side have been linked with many different players.
Reports suggest that a deal for winger Antony is getting closer, while the pursuit of Frenkie de Jong is still ongoing but the defensive midfielder is proving hard to prize away from .
United have also made a move for free-agent Christian Eriksen and in an ideal world are looking to bring in a new centre-back, right-back, defensive midfielder and forward.
But while the Red Devils are struggling in the market, their main rivals, Liverpool and Manchester City, have already made huge signings, with the Reds’ business this summer said to be already complete.
‘It is a bit of a worry. If you look how Liverpool and City have done their business with Darwin Nunez and Erling Haaland, they have strengthened,’ Meulensteen, who served under Sir Alex Ferguson from 2007 to 2013, told .
‘United have far more work to do than that. It is a massive step up [for Ten Hag]. He needs to get the dressing room buying into his ideas and way of work, because there are some issues there over the last season or so.
‘He needs to sort that out and hit the ground running. You want players to come through the door and you want to get fans excited. I think the messaging from him through the media has to be important.
‘They are just sliding and sliding and I don’t see real quality coming through the door. If Ten Hag has a similar squad to last year with the players who are left, then it will be a big, big challenge.’
As well as Liverpool and City, United’s other rivals have already made significant progress this summer, with Arsenal signing Fabio Vieira and working on deals for Gabriel Jesus and Raphinha, while Tottenham have already snapped up Ivan Perisic and Yves Bissouma.
Last season was a disaster for United, with the club finishing sixth in the table with their lowest points tally in Premier League history, while their trophyless run extended to five years.
Ten Hag has been tasked with rebuilding and reshaping United’s squad and although there have been no incoming transfers, plenty of players have departed Old Trafford, including Edinson Cavani, Juan Mata, Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Nemanja Matic.
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