Manchester United icon Nicky Butt has warned fans that history could be in danger of repeating itself with the eventual fate of one of Ruben Amorim’s summer signings this season.
The Manchester club were highly active in the transfer market over the summer, bringing in a raft of new recruits as Amorim sought to shape his team in his own image after arriving mid-season last term.
The Portuguese manager will have been pleased to have a summer to prepare for the new season and a number of new additions to the squad after their woeful 15th-placed finish at the end of last season.
Those drafted in to the squad – to the tune of a staggering £214million summer spend – include former Premier League stars Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha from Brentford and Wolves respectively, Belgian goalkeeper Senne Lammens, RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko, and Paraguayan star Diego Leon.
But Amorim and Co are some way off hitting the ground running, having won only one of their three Premier League games since the campaign started, and suffered an unedifying early Carabao Cup knockout to League Two strugglers Grimsby Town.
And Butt was keen to stress that for one signing, things might not necessarily improve immediately.
Manchester United legend Nicky Butt (centre) has shared his doubts over one new signing
Ruben Amorim will be hopeful that his new-look side kick on after a difficult start of the season
Discussing Amorim’s attacking ranks, Butt told BetMGM, via the Sun: ‘I know (Matheus) Cunha has done really well over the last couple of seasons but I would really like an experienced striker.
‘I hope I’m wrong but I really hope they aren’t making the same mistakes with (Benjamin) Sesko as they did with Rasmus (Hojlund).
‘A young player coming in with no Premier League experience, it just feels like history repeating itself.’
Hojlund himself departed on loan to Serie A champions Napoli at the start of the month, just two season after arriving at Old Trafford for an eye-watering £72million.
The Denmark international struggled to assert himself at the club under both former manager Erik ten Hag and Amorim, scoring just 26 goals in 95 appearances.
Sesko was purchased in a £73.7m deal from his former Bundesliga side, and is yet to score in open play since arriving in England.
The 22-year-old did find the back of the net against Grimsby, but did so in eyebrow-raising fashion as the 10th penalty taker during the decisive shoot-out.
Butt instead suggested that Man United should have looked closer to home for the ideal striker to supercharge their front line.
Benjamin Sesko has had a quieter start to life in the Premier League after moving from Leipzig
‘Honestly, for what it would have cost, I would have gone and brought in someone like Ollie Watkins, someone to help and pull the young strikers out of a bad patch,’ Butt continued.
‘When young players are just coming into the club, when the onus is on them to score goals, if they’re having a few bad games, they have to have the safety net of being pulled out of the firing line.
‘Ollie Watkins, or someone like that, would be who I would have been looking to bring in.’
Watkins, who has three years left on his contract at Aston Villa, is also without goals this season, but netted an impressive 16 Premier League goals last term.
