Quality not there – Scholes criticises Man Utd transfer strategy

What should Man Utd's ambitions for this season now be?

Manchester United legend Paul Scholes believes the club messed up badly with their summer transfer strategy and lack the quality needed to fit manager Ruben Amorim's controversial 3-4-3 system.

The Old Trafford side have made their poorest start to a league season since 1992-93 with four points from the opening four games.

United's internal analysis concluded they would get greater improvement for their investment if they targeted the forward positions over the summer.

But despite spending £200m on Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko, so far they have only scored four Premier League goals – two of which were own goals.

Despite the growing external unease around Amorim, not helped by United's 3-0 derby defeat by Manchester City on Sunday, senior officials remain fully supportive of the Portuguese.

As was the case after last month's shock Carabao Cup exit at League Two Grimsby, they remain convinced Amorim is the right man to restore the club's fortunes and prefer to look at the long-term picture rather than be swayed by current results.