'A football decision they got wrong again' - Graeme Souness slams five Manchester United signings

Liverpool legend Graeme Souness has slammed Manchester United's failed recruitment strategy and pinpointed five signings as a key reason behind their struggles this season.

United are currently 8th in the Premier League following their humiliating 4-0 defeat to Crystal Palace and are on course to miss out on European football entirely next season. Erik ten Hag's side have been ravaged by injury across the campaign, though those issues have been amplified by an inadequate recruitment policy that has left them unable to replace many of their star players.

The United manager has overseen £400 million of investment since he took charge at Old Trafford, but this season he has relied on a core of players that were already at the club before he arrived, with many of his star signings failing to live up to their respective billings.

Souness believes Ten Hag is in trouble because many of his own signings haven't worked out, while he also questioned the decision to sign both Casemiro and Raphael Varane from Real Madrid two years ago.

“I think Manchester United are in trouble,” he told William Hill’s new podcast, Three Up Front. “Erik ten Hag is in trouble more than most managers would be. They spent £45 million on André Onana, £80 million on Antony and £50 million on Lisandro Martínez, all of which were Ten Hag’s signings. None of them have set the world alight at United and it wasn’t someone from upstairs buying them, it was the manager. Recruitment is the single biggest thing you have to get right at a football club, but over the last decade they have got a lot of the footballing decisions wrong.”

He added: “I have never thought Casemiro was someone you paid money to watch play football. Yes, you can point at all the medals he has won, but he was a bit-part player in a very special team. I never saw him as being the difference when he came to United – he’s just okay.

“He’s not a big player. It’s the same with Raphael Varane, if you don’t have something to offer, Real Madrid will sell you. They sold them both to Man United, paying a premium on top of a premium because it’s the Premier League and because of the nature of the club. It’s a football decision which I feel they got wrong again. I think Casemiro has been found out. If you’re a big player and you’ve got the opportunity to go to Man United, you’re going to take it because you’ll be thinking, ‘I can make them better’.”