Man United legend Paul Scholes has been critical of the decision to sign both Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo this summer.
The two forwards were signed for a combined £133.5m (including add-ons) from Wolves and Brentford, respectively, but Scholes believes that other positions were in greater need of strengthening:
“Bringing two number tens [Cunha and Mbeumo], was that really necessary? You think you’ve got Mason Mount, Kobbie Mainoo can do that…”
“If you’ve done that and wasted a bit of money and not been able to get a midfield player or a goalkeeper, it’s not great recruitment-wise, is it?”
Both signings WERE necessary
Goals were a massive problem for the Red Devils last season. They only scored 44 league goals. Cunha and Mbeumo found the back of the net 35 times between them.
In that context, the thinking behind recruiting the pair looks obvious. They will provide the firepower that the first team has been badly missing.
Scholes points towards Mount and Mainoo as alternatives, but neither player has been particularly prolific in a United shirt, with the former even struggling to get on the pitch due to a succession of injuries.
Scholes is right that Man United needed more reinforcements
Both the midfield and the goalkeeper departments were other areas that should have been strengthened. However, it is very difficult to do everything in one transfer window.
Considering their lack of goals, the recruitment department’s decision to prioritise the attack seems sensible. In the meantime, though, head coach Ruben Amorim has been left short in midfield.
Whether the club have addressed the issues in goal will hinge on whether Senne Lammens can settle in quickly following his deadline day move from Antwerp. It’s a lot of pressure to put on a young shot-stopper.
Read more about the Manchester United First Team Squad for 2025/26 here
David Tully
David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for National World’s Football News Network.
