Manchester United need seven new signings to address Ralf Rangnick's concerns

It doesn't take a genius to read between the lines of Ralf Rangnick's recent comments about Manchester United and see what the club needs to change.

Maybe the German secretly wishes that he'd been given funds himself in January to begin the process of strengthening the United squad; either way he's pragmatic enough to know the club want a new long-term manager and that his own role will be purely advisory. So he's already started doing as such from his position as interim boss.

Mentioning the transfer window in his comments after the defeat to Man City, and the need to "develop" the squad is fair enough from Rangnick. It alerts the club's hierarchy to the deep-rooted issues that are plaguing the club and leaving an enormous deficit between United and the teams, like City and Liverpool, they aspire to catch one day.

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It cannot be done with the squad in its current state. Rangnick knows this, and would appear to know a top-four finish might even be beyond this fragmented squad.

Too many players (Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Edinson Cavani) already have one eye on the summer, knowing they will be leaving. A number of others (Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire) have been miles off their best football this season and appear distracted. And that's before even getting to loaned-out duo Anthony Martial and Donny van de Beek, whose futures are uncertain, or the unfavoured trio of Dean Henderson, Nemanja Matic and Eric Bailly. Then there's the Cristiano Ronaldo situation (more on that later).

Chris Sutton isn't usually a pundit whose opinion holds much sway with United fans — and nor should he be — but his assessment