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Topics: Erik Ten Hag, Football, Graeme Souness, Manchester United, Premier League, Rasmus Hojlund, Andre Onana, Jadon Sancho, Antony, Anthony Martial, Casemiro
Joe Adams
Topics: Erik Ten Hag, Football, Graeme Souness, Manchester United, Premier League, Rasmus Hojlund, Andre Onana, Jadon Sancho, Antony, Anthony Martial, Casemiro
Graeme Souness has torn into six Manchester United players during a scathing assessment of Erik ten Hag's summer transfer business.
Despite spending a total of £183.5million on new recruits, United have already lost two of their opening four Premier League matches following consecutive away defeats on the road to Tottenham and Arsenal.
Meanwhile, their victories over Wolves and Nottingham Forest were hardly convincing, and their form has left Souness concerned about the club's trajectory.
Speaking in an interview with The Express, the former Sky Sports pundit said: "I don't think Manchester United are going to be any better than they were last season."
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He went on to offer his opinion on new signing Hojlund, who joined from Atalanta for an eye-watering £72 million.
"They've spent £72m on a young centre-forward in Rasmus Hojlund, who has not got a great goalscoring record," Souness continued.
"He played 34 games for Atalanta and only hit the back of the net 10 times. Now he's come to a league where it's really tough to get goals.
"I might be wrong but that's one hell of a gamble for somebody that doesn't have a proven track record."
The Red Devils also added Mason Mount, Andre Onana, Altay Bayindir, Sergio Reguilon, Jonny Evans and Sofyan Amrabat to their ranks.
But Souness reckons the club is still carrying dead wood in the shape of Anthony Martial, with Jadon Sancho and Antony not "long-term solutions", according to the former Liverpool midfielder.
He added: "I wrote an article five years ago stating it was the last chance saloon for Anthony Martial. Yet he's still starting matches as their main focal point in attack.
"He isn't a Man United player. He will get you excited and then let you down.
"I still don't think Antony or Jadon Sancho are long-term solutions for United if they want to win the Premier League and Champions League. They're still relying on Marcus Rashford."
Ten Hag's new No.1 goalkeeper Onana has also struggled to impress Souness following his £47m move to Old Trafford from Inter Milan.
The Cameroonian shot-stopper, who could miss up to four matches for United this winter should Cameroon qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations, was lucky not to give away a stoppage-time penalty during his Premier League debut against Wolves.
Speaking about the 27-year-old, Souness admitted he was good with the ball at his feet, but less so with his hands.
"I think Onana will make them better at playing out from the back but will he do the most important thing in keeping the ball out the back of the net? I'm not sure about that one," he said.
While he also threw some shade at "steady Eddie" Casemiro, revealing people wouldn't want to "pay money to go and watch" him play.
"I've been heavily criticised for saying this but in my view Casemiro is a steady Eddie," he added. "He's a good player but not one you want to pay money to go and watch."