Man Utd legend Peter Schmeichel reckons the Red Devils could have saved £73m by keeping Rasmus Hojlund and not signing Benjamin Sesko over the summer.
The Red Devils were well beaten by arch-rivals Man City on Sunday with the defeat moving them down to 14th in the early Premier League table.
Only four Premier League sides scored fewer goals than Man Utd last season with Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee scoring just seven league goals between them.
That saw Man Utd invest around £200m on Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Sesko with Hojlund heading out on loan to Napoli for the season.
And, while Sesko – who signed from RB Leipzig in the summer for £73m – has struggled, Hojlund scored in his first start for the Italian side as they beat Fiorentina 3-1 in Serie A on Saturday.
Former Man Utd goalkeeper Schmeichel thinks the Red Devils “didn’t need” to sign Sesko as they already had a striker to develop, while INEOS could have strengthened the midfield instead.
After watching the Man Utd lose 3-0 to Man City on Sunday, Schmeichel told Premier League Productions: “In terms of players being brought in, Cunha for instance, I think in the three games he’s played – he came out very early in the game against Burnley – yes, I’ve seen things that can happen in the future, something we can build on.
“Bryan Mbeumo, the same thing, yes, it’s really good. That’s kind of progress in terms of how the team is going to be developed.
“At the moment I don’t see it. The issue is, it was so clear all of last season, has not been addressed.
“Yes, we didn’t score enough goals so they bought players in who can score goals but they spent the money on the third one – it’s nothing personal against Sesko – but we didn’t need the third striker, we needed a centre midfield player who can control that bit of the pitch, and we needed a goalkeeper.
“Those were the issues we were struggling with last season and it’s not been addressed.”
Schmeichel continued: “It’s nothing personal against him, I just don’t understand why we had to sign a third striker, or a third person up there.
“Rasmus Hojlund has been suffering, he’s been suffocated by the team, never had any service, nothing. And now we’ve signed Cunha and Mbeumo, players who will put the striker in.
“Played for Napoli, after 13 minutes he makes a run that he’s made him and time again, the ball came to him and he scored.
“Now, you have a young kid who has all that experience, has been through all that, taken all that criticism, fans love him because he’s a fighter, he’s got Manchester United over him. I don’t get that, why that swap has happened.”
Former Man Utd midfielder Owen Hargreaves reckons the Red Devils should have signed Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa, as he would have been ready to hit the ground running.
Hargreaves added: “You get Hojlund, who I think is going to be a really good striker, but there’s a lot of pressure, we’ve seen it with Marcus [Rashford] and [Anthony] Martial. They were too young to be dealing with that on their own.
“Then you have that experience with Hojlund where it’s so difficult he has to leave on loan, then you go and buy the same age player in Sesko.
“If you’re going to do it, they’ve got Cunha and Mbeumo, ready-made Premier League players, but then you get a striker who is 22 and not proven at this level.
“If you’ve already done that in that window why wouldn’t you go and get another one, Ollie Watkins or someone of that ilk who is ready. Same thing [with the goalkeeper].”