Manchester United made a mistake in signing Edinson Cavani over the summer and should have been investing £40 million ($52m) in Wolves striker Raul Jimenez, says Paul Ince.
The Red Devils’ deficiencies were exposed again in a 2-1 Champions League defeat to Istanbul Basaksehir, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side mustering just two shots on target.
Anthony Martial was asked to lead the line in that contest, with Cavani being introduced off the bench.
Ince believes part of that problem could have been solved with better recruitment in the last window.
The ex-United and Wolves midfielder told Ladbrokes: “There are so many players out there who could have come into that Man United team. You look at Thomas Partey and Raul Jimenez for example.
“Last season United needed to bring in a striker and they go and get Odion Ighalo from China. What was that about?
“Go and spend £40 million on Jimenez. He’s a proven striker, a scorer. You know, and then they go and get Edinson Cavani who will hardly play.
“You’ve got to look at the structure, the recruitment, the scouting system and think ‘what are they looking at?’
“There’s a lot of good players out there, top, top players. Go and get these players. But they haven’t.
“If you’re going to spend the money, put them in the team. I’m not having this ‘you’ve got to give them time’ – you’ve got to put them in straight away if you’re going to spend that money.
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“Why would you spend £40m on a player who you’re going to just stick on the bench?”
This article was most recently revised and updated 4 years ago
