Michael Carrick told Man Utd have made £35m transfer mistake: ‘Outstanding player’

Manchester United have been told that their decision to walk away from a £35million transfer earlier in the window was a mistake

Michael Carrick is seeking to rebuild his squad as he prepares for his first full season in charge of the Red Devils.

United have made it a priority to bolster their midfield options after the departure of Casemiro, with Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans arriving from Chelsea and Aston Villa, respectively.

And elsewhere, Karl Darlow has arrived from Leeds United to serve as a back-up to Senne Lammens following his impressive debut season at Old Trafford.

United are still keen to make further additions, particularly in midfield, with Manu Kone and Carlos Baleba among the names under consideration.

Earlier in the window, it had looked like the Red Devils were set to sign Atalanta midfielder Ederson after they agreed a £35m deal with the Serie A club before the World Cup.

However, United subsequently walked away from the deal after concerns arose during Ederson’s medical following his time away with Brazil.

The 27-year-old has since signed a new contract with Atalanta, and former Premier League midfielder Don Hutchison believes it was ‘surprising’ to see United walk away from a deal for a player of Ederson’s calibre.

‘I’m surprised they didn’t go back for Ederson,’ Hutchison told ESPN.

‘I think he’s an outstanding player who can make other players around him better.

‘He’s just signed a new deal in Atalanta but he’s a very, very good player.’

And while Hutchison can understand United’s cautious approach to this summer’s window, he said United were quite clearly still lacking numbers ahead of the new season.

‘They’ve had a couple of really, really outstanding windows, good windows, buying very, very good players and young, promising players,’ he added.

‘I think it’s just being a little bit greedy if you want all these Champions League players to come in this summer.

‘I think the strategy has obviously changed. They’re not going to go out and spend £100 million on players. That’s why they’ve walked away from one or two deals.’

Hutchison continued: ‘I think Michael is a clever guy. He’d be naive if he thought what he’s got now is good enough to compete in the domestic competitions with the Premier League and Champions League because now this is a tougher test.

‘They were outstanding with no European football last year, but bodies have to be brought in. But you have to be careful. You can’t go out and spend £25 million on a guy that’s not going to play.

‘You’ve still got players like Kobbie Mainoo who need game time, so it’s all revolving around the players that were signed in the last couple of windows, the players that are already there.’

And the former Liverpool player said the Red Devils need to already have an eye on future windows, as he namechecked Harry Maguire and Senne Lammens as two players who may need to be replaced.

‘I think the window after this one, I think that’s going to be telling,’ Hutchison said.

‘It’s then when they need to try to move on from the likes of Maguire and maybe when they’ve had a good look at Senne Lammens, they might think that in two years or 18 months, that’s an upgrade that needs fixing, a world-class goalkeeper.

‘But for now, I think with the window still open, I think they are pretty fairly set.’

United’s preparations for the new season are firmly underway, with Carrick’s side coming from behind to beat Atletico Madrid in their third pre-season friendly on Saturday.

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