Paul Scholes destroys £145m worth of Man Utd defenders in scathing criticism - with 'relegation' warning issued to club's transfer team

Manchester United are in the midst of a truly dismal season and currently sit down in 13th place in the Premier League table. The club have invested heavily in new signings in recent transfer windows but their big-money buys have failed to have the desired impact or to live up to their lofty price tags. Club legend Scholes has been particularly critical of United's defensive recruits and has highlighted his concerns about the likes of Matthijs de Ligt, Leny Yoro and Lisandro Martinez in particular.

He told The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet: "His (De Ligt's) age (25) and his amount of clubs already concerns me. He was brilliant at Ajax, he seems to be getting worse as he gets older. Bayern Munich, Juventus, they've let him go for some reason. Where are your ambitions? I'm talking about getting a team to win the Premier League. Are you going to win the Premier League with De Ligt and Yoro as your centre halves?

Scholes went on to talk about Yoro: "Look, he's a young player, but I haven't liked what I've seen so far. Did you see the Southampton game? He's a young player, he's one centre half I would keep, when I talk about that spine and two centre halves."

The United legend was also critical of Martinez: "Even when he's fit he's not good enough to win the Premier League with."

Scholes also feels more new players are needed and warned the club must strengthen their squad or face a relegation battle. He added: "I think a new goalkeeper is needed, possibly two centre halves, two centre midfield players, and two centre forwards. Alright, I'll go for one centre midfielders and one centre forward, but with a bit of stature, a bit of quality, and really create a spine. When you've got that spine right, then you can add bits to it. That spine, that core, is so important. If they don't get that right this summer, this might sound ridiculous, but the form since this manager is in, they could be looking at relegation. I'm telling you, it's been so bad."

Manchester United return to action on Sunday in the Premier League away at Tottenham. Spurs have also endured a difficult campaign, and sit a place behind United in the table, but did enjoy a 3-0 win over the Red Devils earlier in the season at Old Trafford and also dumped Ruben Amorim's team out of the Carabao Cup.