Wayne Rooney has warned Michael Carrick he will end up ‘paying the price’ if Manchester United relent from making any further signings.
The transfer window closes on Tuesday with United still appearing to have several glaring weaknesses in their squad to address.
Sunday’s 5-2 win over Ipswich Town helped rebuild momentum after United’s opening weekend setback against Hull, but Rooney fears that victory could end up papering over obvious cracks.
United’s recruitment efforts this summer have largely focused on rebuilding their midfield engine room with Andrey Santos, Carlos Baleba and Youri Tielemans all having joined in the wake of Casemiro’s departure and Manuel Ugarte’s serious injury.
Get ahead of the start of the season with our weekly football newsletter. Sign up now for free.
Defensively, and particularly at full-back, United look vulnerable with Luke Shaw given the runaround by Ipswich winger Fatawu Issahaku, while Rooney also has concerns with his old club’s forward line.
Indeed, United’s record goalscorer believes the onus should be on Carrick to apply pressure and ensure United’s key decision maker arm him with the tools he requires.
Rooney told the United Stand: ‘I hope the game doesn’t hide that, or hide behind today’s result and say they’re OK. We’ve won this game 5-2 and everything is rosy.
‘Michael’s got to and push. The next two days he’s got to go in, he’s got to be banging on the door saying I need more players, players to improve the squad, improve the starting XI. If you give us these players it might be the difference between winning a trophy or finishing in the top four.
‘I think he has to be strong and really push for that, if we don’t I think we saw Mazraoui not doing to well when he came on either, we could end up paying the price.
Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications.
‘They’ll have ideas and constant conversations which will be going on and there will be a list of players who are there.
‘Listen, I think it’s important you don’t just go and buy anyone for the sake of it.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
‘I know I’m saying there he has to go and try and get more players and put pressure on them to do that, but I think it’s important they don’t just waste money on someone who isn’t good enough.
