Paul Scholes has named his surprising best signing of the summer transfer window, who he’d have at Man United ‘tomorrow’.
When the clock struck 7pm on Monday marking the end of Deadline Day, the 20 clubs in the Premier League had spent a record-breaking £3.19billion between them.
Liverpool’s £450m saw them top the list of spenders as the Reds strengthened their league-winning squad with Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez, Giovanni Leoni and Alexander Isak.
While Chelsea, Arsenal, Newcastle United and Manchester United all splashed out more than £200m on improving their squads ahead of a season sure to be hugely competitive.
But, to the surprise of fans, Paul Scholes didn’t pick any of the above’s array of new stars as his signing of the summer, as the former Red Devils midfielder instead backed one of Man City’s new additions to make a difference this season.
Pep Guardiola forked out £185m over the summer with the signings of Marcus Bettinelli, Sverre Nypan, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rayan Cherki, James Trafford and lastly Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Paul Scholes has named his surprising best signing of the summer transfer window
And the former Man United midfielder omitted all of Liverpool’s new stars from his thinking
The Sky Blues scooped the Italian No 1 for a fee of just £26million on Deadline Day after PSG boss Luis Enrique ordered him to find a new club. And posting to his Instagram Stories, Scholes was full of praise for the signing.
‘Donnarumma for £26m surely has to be signing of the window… obviously apart from the 14 Salford City have signed,’ he wrote.
During an appearance on The Overlap, Scholes also admitted that he would ‘have him [Donnarumma] at his former club ‘whenever’.
United’s two goalkeepers have indeed struggled so far this season, with Altay Bayindir replacing Andre Onana as Ruben Amorim’s No 1.
Red Devils chiefs hope the signing of Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp will improve the situation but the Belgian is noticeably inexperienced at just 23. Donnarumma would no-doubt have been the safer, and more reassuring, option.
‘I think that’s a really strange signing for Pep. I love the keeper [Donnarumma], I think he’s brilliant and I’d have him at United tomorrow, today, whenever,’ Scholes said.
‘For £40m [Donnarumma’s previously reported price], he’s unbelievable.
‘But for Pep, you’ve got to almost be able to play in central midfield as a goalkeeper.
Scholes chose Gianluigi Donnarumma as his signing of the summer transfer window
He signed for Pep Guardiola’s side in a £26m deal on Deadline Day from Paris Saint-Germain
‘I think that’s the reason [Luis] Enrique is getting rid of him at PSG, because he’s not great with his feet. I just don’t see him as a City goalkeeper.’
Elsewhere in the episode, the Englishman gave his thoughts on Man United and Ruben Amorim’s struggles so far this season.
The Red Devils – with new additions Bryan Mbuemo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko – started off their campaign promisingly with a good performance against Arsenal despite losing 1-0.
Then came a mundane draw at Craven Cottage before the disaster result at Grimsby Town, after which Amorim declared that his players ‘spoke very loud’.
In a must-win game, United nevertheless got their season back on track at the weekend with a 3-2 victory at home to Burnley.
While admitting that he ‘likes’ Amorim, Scholes revealed that he found the Portuguese coach’s comment post-Grimsby slightly concerning.
Ruben Amorim declared that his players spoke ‘very loud’ during the loss to Grimsby Town
‘I quite like Amorim,’ he said, ‘He’s very honest and can be too honest. He’s saying what every manager probably thinks at some point, but I don’t think you say that out loud.
‘There are so many experienced managers in the Premier League who will be thinking that, and I’ve thought that, but they won’t say it.
‘The worst comment for me was after the Grimsby game, where he said that the players spoke out loud – I thought that was a little bit damning for him.’
United are back in action after the international break against Man City at the Etihad in a game in which both sides could be fielding a debutant keeper.
