Paul Scholes shares Manchester United transfer view on signing from West Ham United, Rio Ferdinand agrees
Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand believe Manchester United should have signed Declan Rice from West Ham over the summer.
Speaking on TNT Sports on Tuesday (12 December), Scholes said the Red Devils would’ve been buying “known quality” and the “right characters” had they brought in the former Hammers captain and Harry Kane.
After the England internationals have both had solid starts to life at Arsenal and Bayern Munich, Ferdinand added that Erik ten Hag needed to sign players that have an “understanding” of the Premier League as he believes the duo would’ve provided leadership at Old Trafford this season.
“You think of the likes of Harry Kane, £100million and probably you get him,” said Scholes. “The other one was Declan Rice, £100million.
“You’re buying known quality, the right characters. They know about this club, they know the country. Quality, quality players. This Manchester United team would be so much better if they had them two.”
“I agree with that,” added Ferdinand. “This Manchester United team needed character, resilience and understanding of this league more than anything, more than talking talent. Those guys have talent in abundance, don’t get me wrong.
“I think that the overriding factor that this squad, which you’ve seen this season the subplots that are around this club most of it is off the pitch.
“These guys would’ve come in and been the guys that lead that in a better way, 100%. You’ve seen how they’ve walked into their new clubs, they’re probably the best players at their two new clubs performance-wise.”
Don’t take risks
There is no doubt that Rice and Kane would’ve been superb signings for Man United if they had followed up their interest with suitable offers.
The Red Devils instead decided to sign players who haven’t played in the Premier League and have so far failed to live up to expectations.
While the fees in question for the English duo were by no means cheap, they knew they would’ve been buying ready-made players who could’ve slotted in seamlessly at Old Trafford.
There is a very good chance that they would’ve been able to sign them as well as they are the biggest club in England and Champions League football was also on offer.
But it didn’t make any difference for the Hammers as we still managed to get £105million for Rice, allowing us to make several additions to our squad over the summer.
In other West Ham news, the Irons are set to price Premier League clubs out of signing one player amid a £100million development.