Scholes fires warning shot to Ten Hag over Man Utd transfer business

Suraj Radia

• 30 Sept 2022 18:02 BST
• 4 min read

Paul Scholes has warned Erik ten Hag that the Manchester United boss will likely face the blame if his new signings fail to deliver on the big stage.

United spent more than £200 million on the likes of Casemiro, Antony and Lisandro Martinez during Ten Hag’s first transfer window after splashing out on Cristiano Ronaldo, Jason Sancho and Raphael Varane last summer.

Scholes questioned the club’s previous recruitment and the United legend suggested that the lack of a recruitment figurehead could see Ten Hag considered at fault for the transfers.

“Jadon Sancho was a young player who Manchester United spent a lot of money on, who was unproven in the league,” Scholes told The Overlap.

“And why would a club like Real Madrid let Varane go? If you looked at him last season, he didn’t look right.

“I didn’t think it was a great transfer window. Nobody at the club is taking responsibility for it. This year, Casemiro was done over two days.

“I wonder if it was the manager’s signing. A lot of money, a long contract. I think they need to put someone in charge of recruitment. Eventually, the manager will get blamed for it.”

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How have United’s signings done under Ten Hag?

After a dismal start to the season which saw United lose their opening two Premier League games, Ten Hag’s side are currently on a four-match winning streak ahead of the Manchester derby.

While Christian Eriksen, Tyrell Malacia and Martinez have quickly established themselves as important members of the starting line-up, Ten Hag appears to be slowly easing Casemiro and Antony into the first team.

Antony netted on his debut against and will likely feature heavily in the coming weeks due to fitness concerns over Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.

Casemiro, meanwhile, has yet to start in the Premier League for his new side, coming off the bench three times so far, with Scott McTominay and Eriksen Ten Hag’s preferred midfield pairing.

United’s signings from last year appear to be finally paying off, with Sancho already scoring twice in his side’s first six matches this season, a number that took him 19 games to reach last year.

Varane has also begun to showcase his best form after replacing Harry Maguire in the starting line-up, perhaps showing why Ten Hag may deserve credit rather than blame.

The only recent signing that has struggled is Ronaldo who, despite being United’s top scorer last season, has found himself on the bench for five of his side’s six games this season and the veteran could end up leaving in January.