Rio Ferdinand claims Sir Alex Ferguson would have ended Manchester United’s pursuit of Erik ten Hag’s top target

Rio Ferdinand has given a scathing assessment of Manchester United’s approach to recruitment and believes Sir Alex Ferguson would have walked away from a deal for Frenkie de Jong by now.

The Red Devils needed a massive rebuild this summer after losing a host of players but have so far only signed backup left-back Tyrell Malacia, centre-back Lisandro Martinez and free agent Christian Eriksen.

United have spent most of the window unsuccessfully trying to prise De Jong away from Barcelona – even though he is adamant he wants to stay at Camp Nou – and are now sat bottom of the Premier League table after back-to-back defeats.

Ferdinand feels his old club have wasted valuable time and resources trying to sign De Jong, which has set them back, and says Sir Alex – and other top managers – would not have continued to pursue a player that does not want to join.

Speaking on his FIVE YouTube channel after United’s 4-0 loss to Brentford, Ferdinand said: ‘We’re not in the market for the top players. We’re going out and we’re waiting for three-and-a-half months to sign Frenkie de Jong.

‘With all due respect, he’s a great player, but we’re almost whoring ourselves out for this player for three months of the transfer window with our cap in hand begging, “Please come to us”.’

He continued: ‘I think Ten Hag is sitting there thinking, “This has been a complete shambles for me because I came in expecting to really revamp this first team with about five or six players that I believe could change our fortunes or give us a better opportunity of being a better team”.

‘And he’s struggling to get over the line and his main target [De Jong], they’ve not got anywhere near it. They’ve walked around behind him begging him, “Please turn round and notice us”