Ferdinand blasts Manchester United for failing to follow Chelsea’s lead in transfer market

Rio Ferdinand has hit out at Manchester United’s recruitment in the current transfer window, with the Red Devils legend saying it is “so frustrating” to see Ole Gunnar Solskjaer struggling to get bodies on board while the likes of Chelsea splash the cash.

Frank Lampard has had little trouble welcoming fresh faces into his ranks at Stamford Bridge. An ambitious spending spree in west London has seen the Blues tie up deals for Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Kai Havertz, Thiago Silva and Malang Sarr.

In contrast, United have only Donny van de Beek to show for their efforts, with the Dutch midfielder being snapped up from Ajax. Various other targets for the Red Devils have been mooted, including Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho, but no further agreements have been reached.

Ferdinand is among those to have been left disappointed, as Solskjaer was expected to be busy before the next deadline.

“Frank has made signing players like it's the norm, like it's easy – water off a duck's back,” Ferdinand told the Five YouTube Channel.

“The difference in the way Chelsea have done their business compared to say my team Man United… there is no noise, there's nothing going on, all you're seeing is bang – deal. Little bit of talk, bang-deal.

“That is what's frustrating for me and all the Man United fans. Sancho was talked about months ago. Still not done, it's so frustrating.

“I'm not saying deals are easy to be done but Chelsea are showing deals can be done if you put the money down and it's all done in the right way.”

Ferdinand is not the first to suggest that United have been going about things in the wrong way, with Gary Neville accusing the Red Devils of looking “desperate” as they waste precious time and energy on deals that never look like being completed.

The former full-back has said: “Like everyone else they had three months off because of coronavirus, so I don’t think it should be the case they didn’t have the resource or time to get things done. Chelsea got their business done, [Manchester] City have got three or four pieces done. I don’t think timing’s the issue.

“It’s just a thing with United that every time they go for a player in the last four, five, six years it feels they are a little bit desperate.

“They think they can hang on but they always pay it [the asking price] in the end. That’s sometimes where I think you can take control, give a hard deadline and say ‘we’re moving away from this deal’.”