Paul Scholes dumbfounded at two transfers that damaged both players

Paul Scholes blasted Manchester United for showing zero ‘common sense’ with two transfers made in the summer, and a pair of examples from the Sir Alex Ferguson era suggest he’s right.

Scholes is never shy when giving his opinion on the current state of Man Utd. When speaking on the latest edition of The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, the United icon voiced his bewilderment at his former side’s transfer decisions at the top end of the pitch.

The Red Devils spent heavily to bring Benjamin Sesko on board over the summer. That move was made in part due to the realisation Rasmus Hojlund was not the answer.

But rather than take the heat off Hojlund by dropping him to the bench and sprinkling him back in when he’s re-found his groove, Man Utd loaned the Dane out to Napoli.

That left just Joshua Zirkzee to battle with Sesko for starts and in truth, it’s not much of a contest. The Dutchman clearly lacks Ruben Amorim’s faith having not made a single start this season.

As such, the full weight and expectation of being Man Utd’s only genuine option to lead the line is now on Sesko’s shoulders, just as it was on Hojlund’s over the past two seasons.

In Scholes’ mind, Man Utd have blundered by letting Hojlund go and the fact his replacement is so young (22) increases the chances of Sesko caving to the immense pressure too.

“You look at Rasmus Hojlund, 22-year-old kid, came when he was 20 years of age,” said Scholes.

“One centre-forward for Manchester United and everything was on him, the pressure was on him and he couldn’t handle it.

“He should be coming in and and out of the team. There should be three or four centre-forwards there. This summer, what do they do? They let him go and they buy another one, very similar, exactly the same!

“22 years of age. He’s started okay, he looks like he’s getting better. But where’s the common sense in that?”

Two periods on Fergie era make Scholes’ point

After a difficult first few years, Man Utd were successful and regularly lifted major trophies throughout the entire Ferguson era.

However, there are two specific points in time when Fergie’s Man Utd were at their irresistible peak.

The first came around the turn of the century when Man Utd won three Premier League titles in a row (1999-01). Of course, that is also the era United famously won the treble in 1999.

It’s important to remember Man Utd played with a 4-4-2 formation back then, meaning the club needed more strikers on the books.

Nevertheless, United boasted four top-class options in Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Ferguson did not hesitate to rotate his frontmen and play the hot hand. He also made expert use of his strikers when making substitutions mid-match.

The second most memorable spell in Fergie’s reign came between 2007-09. Across just two seasons, Man Utd won two Premier League titles, two Community Shields, one League Cup, one Champions League and one Club World Cup.

United almost went back-to-back in the UCL, only to fall in the final to arguably the greatest club side ever in Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona.

Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Thierry Henry, Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto’o… that one.

Man Utd had three outstanding options to choose from in the most advanced positions in the 2007-08 season – Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney. For the 2008-09 campaign, Dimitar Berbatov was added to the mix without subtracting.

Of course, a team playing one up front like Man Utd do nowadays can’t realistically have four senior strikers in their ranks.

But they can certainly have more options than what Man Utd have left Ruben Amorim with right now.

Latest Man Utd news – Sesko savaged / Mainoo exit decision

In other news, a recent poll has named Benjamin Sesko as the WORST signing of the summer, though why that reflects poorly on the club and not the player has been revealed.

Furthermore, TEAMtalk have delved deep into the summer business and picked out plenty of obvious candidates who already look worse signings than the Slovenian.

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