Meulensteen warns Ten Hag over ‘massive step up’ as he highlights key Man Utd ‘worry’

Former Man Utd first-team coach Rene Meulensteen is concerned at the lack of transfer activity and has warned Erik ten Hag over his “massive step up”.

Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham have already got some early business done in the transfer window with the Red Devils struggling to get their first signing over the line.

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And Meulensteen – who was a coach under Sir Alex Ferguson at Man Utd for years – thinks it is “a bit of a worry” that the Red Devils are trailing behind Liverpool and Man City again in terms of transfers.

The Dutchman is also concerned that managing Man Utd could be a “massive step up” for his compatriot Ten Hag and hopes they give him the tools to succeed.

Meulensteen told talkSPORT: “It is a bit of a worry. If you look how Liverpool and City have done their business with Darwin Nunez and Erling Haaland, they have strengthened.

“United have far more work to do than that. It is a massive step up [for Ten Hag]. He needs to get the dressing room buying into his ideas and way of work, because there are some issues there over the last season or so.

“He needs to sort that out and hit the ground running. You want players to come through the door and you want to get fans excited. I think the messaging from him through the media has to be important.

“They are just sliding and sliding and if I don’t see really quality coming through the door. If Ten Hag has a similar squad to last year with the players who are left, then it will be a big, big challenge.”

Meanwhile, former Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish has told Man Utd to splash out on a striker that can bag them 20 goals a season.

“The recruitment has been criticised over the last 10 years or so,” McLeish told Football Insider. “What Sir Alex Ferguson would do and what he was good at was picking great strikers.

“He always said you are only as good as your strikers. He would organise his defence, get a couple of ugly guys like me and Willie Miller then he would get guys who scored goals.

“Mark Hughes, Van Nistelrooy, Dwight Yorke, there was a colossal amount of strikers who got goals for Man United. If you sign a striker who will get you 20 in a season then you are close to winning a Championship or close to being in the Champions League.”