Owen Hargreaves sends Manchester United warning over new signings

Former midfielder Owen Hargreaves has warned Manchester United that they cannot afford to not get the best out of their summer signings following the conclusion of the transfer window.

United, who registered a third successive Premier League win for the first time this year with a 1-0 triumph over Leicester City on Thursday evening, added six new faces to Erik ten Hag's squad, with the signings of Martin Dubravka and Antony confirmed on deadline day. The latter, who was a long-term target for Ten Hag, was United's most expensive signing of the summer, joining the club for a fee just north of £85million.

The Brazilian's arrival at Old Trafford meant United's summer spending topped £220million, with Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro also among those to join the club in big-money deals. It means that the Reds are now under enormous pressure to make up for last season's disastrous campaign and mount a top-four push.

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However, as has been proven in recent years, United have struggled to get the best out of their big-money signings, with countless names proving to be huge flops upon their arrivals in M16. And that is what worries Hargreaves, who has highlighted the importance of the Reds getting the best out of their new recruits, pointing to how Liverpool and Manchester City have nailed their recruitment in recent seasons.

"If you look at last summer, United got Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo, it was a ten out of ten," Hargreaves told BT Sport when asked to rate United's summer recruitment drive out of ten. "They finished second the year before and we all thought Ronaldo would take them to the title.

"It was a mess. Now, you could