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Manchester United legend Teddy Sheringham has questioned the recent signings of young players like Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee, and even of more proven names like Matthijs de Ligt.
Sheringham, speaking at the launch of Ladbrokes’ “Gaffer of all Accas”, made it clear he felt Man Utd needed to make the kind of signings they used to make, when Sir Alex Ferguson led the club to huge success by often buying the best players from other Premier League clubs.
The Red Devils were a dominant force under Ferguson and much of their success came from signings like Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Dwight Yorke, and others, who all arrived at Old Trafford having already proven themselves in the English top flight.
Sheringham himself was another of those signings, and he believes United now should be competing for similar-calibre players again, naming Harry Kane and Declan Rice as the two ideal targets that they could’ve gone for in the last couple of years.
Unfortunately for MUFC, Kane has since left Tottenham for Bayern Munich, while Rice ended up moving from West Ham to Arsenal, so those ships have surely now sailed.
Sheringham slams Manchester United transfer decisions
“For me, when the big players become available, that’s when Man United should strike. I’ve said it before, but Declan Rice was available last summer, Harry Kane was, too… United weren’t anywhere near getting those players in. They’re the big players – the big England players – they’ve got to be going and getting. Like your Rio Ferdinands and your Wayne Rooneys over the years; these guys know the game inside out, and so you go out and break transfer records to get them,” Sheringham said.
“Harry Kane leads by example. You know what you’re going to get from him. It’s the same with Declan Rice; they’re leaders on the pitch, and everyone follows them. When Man United aren’t in the conversation when it comes to those players, you know you’ve got a problem. Man United have got no leaders. They’ve got decent players, but everyone is looking after themselves, and that is not how you build a football team. You need leaders to follow, and they haven’t got any.
“They brought in Rasmus Hojlund last year, and it’s the same this summer with Joshua Zirkzee. They might be good little players, but how long are they going to take to get used to the Premier League? Zirkzee might take, what, six months? Maybe longer? You haven’t got that sort of time as a manager; you need proven players that are going to do a job for you, and help other players along the way.
“All these players that they keep signing… you know, [Matthijs] de Ligt: OK, he might be a nice player, but they’ve got Harry Maguire there, who can do a very similar job. It’s just like, what are you doing? What are you buying? Go out and break the bank and get proper players in, who you know are going to do a job week-in, week-out. De Ligt, he’s been at a few different clubs now. Why? Why are people letting him go? That’s not a top player.”
