Manchester United fans have lamented the club's huge transfer blunder as they referenced Liverpool's shrewd business in the market.
Man United slumped to their second league defeat of the season against Manchester City.
Ruben Amorim's team succumbed to Pep Guardiola's side on Sunday, losing 3-0 at the Etihad.
Benjamin Sesko led the line in what was his first league start since his £73.7 million transfer, but he failed to make an impression up front - with his match statistics making for tough reading.
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Fellow summer signing Bryan Mbeumo also started as he fashioned Man United's best chance against Man City.
Bruno Fernandes skippered his side and started in midfield alongside Manuel Ugarte.
Fernandes has started each league game this season and scored his team's winning goal against Burnley last month.
But Man United could have been without his services had things turned out differently during the summer transfer window.
Fernandes was subjected to a monstrous £100 million bid from Al Hilal, who tabled a staggering contract.
The Portuguese midfielder, however, rejected Al Hilal's advances to remain at Old Trafford.
But Man United fans have bemoaned the club's decision to keep Fernandes and brought up the departure of Philippe Coutinho at Liverpool.
Of course, Liverpool offloaded Coutinho to Barcelona for £142 million and subsequently signed Alisson and Virgil van DIjk, who have since become key players.
Man United supporters reckon they should have done the same with Fernandes when they had the chance.
On Reddit, a Red Devils fan posted: "Remember when Liverpool sold Coutinho and bought Van Dijk and Alisson. Two players that defined their team for 7-8 years along with [Mohamed] Salah. That is what we should've done.
"Bruno has been an amazing player and our definite best signing since Fergie left but it's clear that he doesn't fit the style or the system that Amorim plays. We should've capitalised by selling him and using that money to get a midfielder that can actually play in this system. I honestly think if we had done this it would've been the big turning point for us the same way Alisson and VVD were for Liverpool."
Another commented: "I like [Matheus] Cunha & Mbeumo, however signing them both whilst keeping Bruno made little sense. The transfer strategy was off again."
A Reddit user argued: "Liverpool let Coutinho go once they had Salah and [Sadio] Mane settled in. If we sold Bruno in the summer, we all know that £100m would’ve gone on [Carlos] Baleba, and how’s he done so far this season? Been substituted early 3 times and dropped to the bench at the weekend."
Had Man United sold the 31-year-old, then they could have reinvested into the squad.
It's no secret that Amorim wants a midfielder, who has the ability to accelerate his rebuild, with Brighton's Carlos Baleba on his radar.
Man United could have launched a significant pursuit of Baleba during the summer transfer window if they had extra funds which would have been generated through Fernandes' sale.
Topics: Manchester United, Liverpool, Football, Bruno Fernandes
Nasir Jabbar