Owen Hargreaves On Manchester United Transfers: Former Manchester United and Bayern Munich star Owen Hargreaves has raised some questions regarding some of the signings the Red Devils have made, saying that the club should focus on bringing in the players who can win them the Premier League.
United has made some big signings in the recently concluded transfer window. They spent over 200 million euros on players this summer. The biggest Man United signings of this transfer window were 18-year-old defender Leny Yoro from Lille for about 60 million euros and midfielder Manuel Ugarte from PSG for about 50 million euros.
Manager Erik Ten Hag also brought in star defender Matthijs de Ligt and right-back Noussair Mazraoui from Bayern Munich for 45 million and 15 million euros each. Lastly, Dutch striker Joshua Zirkzee was brought in from Bologna for about 42.5 million euros.
While Yoro and Ugarte are yet to play a game for United on account of injuries or match fitness, the others have featured in what has been a poor start to the season for the multi-time league winners.
The club from Old Trafford won their opening game of the Premier League 2024/25 season against Fulham 1-0 with an 87th-minute goal from Zirkzee. However, since then, they have lost two games in a row. The first was a 2-1 defeat to Brighton, where they missed a lot of chances and conceded in the final minutes of the game. More recently, United were thumped by rivals Liverpool 3-0 in what was a dismal performance by the team all over the pitch.
One player who has been in the limelight for various reasons across this three-week spell is Joshua Zirkzee. The 23-year-old scored on his debut but has been underperforming since. Against Brighton, it was because of him that Garnacho’s goal was disallowed, leading to the team’s loss.
Owen Hargreaves On Manchester United Transfers
In a recent discussion on the Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube channel hosted by the legendary defender, Hargreaves, who has made 27 appearances for United, said that Zirkzee is not the level of player that would win you the league.
“I quite like him; he’s got something, but he’s not a [Erling] Haaland killer who’s going to get you 40 goals. In our team, he would have been a good squad player; he would have been the third or fourth guy, but if you want to win, you need a guy at the top of the pitch who’s ruthless,” said Owen.
The former midfielder then went on to critique the club’s other summer signings, saying,
“I think Manchester United should only sign players who can win them the Premier League and the Champions League; otherwise, keep the money. [Leny] Yoro could be that guy. Young boy, got crazy high potential. But at the moment, United are signing a lot of guys who are like fillers.”
Not only that, but Owen Hargreaves took to X to disapprove of other Manchester United transfer deals, such as selling midfielder Scott McTominay to Napoli.
“My opinion is that (Manchester United) made a mistake by selling Scott McTominay. Today, it is difficult to replace a player like him. Conte is a smart man.”
With one win and two losses in the opening three games, United are currently 14th in the Premier League, as it seems that their aspirations of a top-four finish are in jeopardy.
Get the Latest English Premier League Updates at IceCric.News and Follow for Live Updates – Facebook & Instagram.
