Rooney blasts Man Utd over three ‘horrendous’ signings after stars get ‘absolutely battered’
Wayne Rooney has revealed three “horrendous” signings Man Utd made before last summer as their recruitment strategy was heavily criticised.
The Red Devils hierarchy have been criticised for at least a decade for their poor recruitment decisions which have seen Man Utd pay way over the odds for players.
Man Utd have not properly challenge for the Premier League title since Sir Alex Ferguson left Old Trafford and retired in 2013.
A lot of that has been put down to bad transfer decisions with the Red Devils often preferring to buy a big name over a potential future superstar.
And Man Utd legend Rooney has criticised the club for bringing in the likes of Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic on huge wages.
Rooney said on The Overlap: “The recruitment at Manchester United before last summer was horrendous.
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“They were just bringing big names in – you look at Lukaku, Zlatan, Pogba – they’re good players but they were just bringing names in and spending enormous amounts of money.
“It’s going to take a bit of time to get over those mistakes.”
Rooney hopes Man Utd are now turning a corner under Ruben Amorim and the new leadership of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS.
The Man Utd legend added: “If you look at Manchester United over the last ten years, the players have been absolutely battered. Now they’ve got a couple of results and you can see a bit of confidence coming back.
“You can even say that in the manager. They’re gradually getting better, there’s definitely been some improvement.
“It’s been really tough for Ruben Amorim and I’ve been critical of him. We are seeing them improve though and players are getting to know each other a bit better.
“There’s some promising signs and although they’re not going to win the league they could possibly sneak into the top-four.”
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Rooney also named Sunderland midfielder Granit Xhaka as the signing of the season so far after the newly-promoted side drew against Premier League leaders Arsenal over the weekned.
Speaking on The Wayne Rooney Show, he said: “Coming back to the Premier League you wonder if he can do it. Obviously with a promoted team as well coming up, what impact could he have?
“But he’s probably been the signing of the season. He has been brilliant.”
Rooney added on Xhaka: “When he had the situation with Arsenal, when he fell out with the fans it showed his character to go and play for Arsenal again.
“To get through that and then go and perform for Arsenal, and then at Leverkusen to be part of a team to beat Bayern Munich to the title for the first time in over 10 years has shown what a good player he is.
“Sunderland have got a very young squad as well. He’d almost be like a father figure and he’ll be a big help for the coach as well to be the in-between man as captain.
“And they made a lot of signings in the summer, he’ll be a massive help for the manager and with them players, for sure, using his experience.”
