Former Manchester United ace Paul Scholes says the club need to spend big to arrest worrying decline

FORMER Manchester United star Paul Scholes fears for the future of the club, saying ‘they could go into the wilderness in the same way Liverpool did’.

FORMER Manchester United star Paul Scholes fears for the future of the club, saying ‘they could go into the wilderness in the same way Liverpool did in the 1990s’.

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In the space of just 15 months United have gone from champions to a title afterthought and the 2-1 loss to Swansea City on the opening day only exacerbated the problem.

Liverpool, who dominated English football in the 1970s and 1980s, faded into obscurity in the 1990s and only gained relevance again at the turn of the century. They are still to win their first EPL title.

Scholes and Giggs back in the good old days.

Scholes, writing in The Independent, said he hated criticising the club, but after seven league defeats at Old Trafford last season and now the Swansea defeat, he couldn’t keep quiet any longer.

“We need to arrest the slide now,” he said.

And to do that, especially with no lure of European football and their fallen status as a preferred destination, they needed to splash the cash - and his plan would require plenty of it.

Scholes, who lamented the club failed to sign both Toni Kroos and Cesc Fabregas early in the off season, names five players he would go all out for before the transfer window closes at the end of the month to improve United’s prospects.

“My five would be: Xabi Alonso, Sami Khedira, Raphaël Varane, Angel Di Maria and Mats Hummels,” he said.

“It would be one very big cheque for Real Madrid, given that four of them would come from that club. It would be hard to land them all. But that is the level that United need at this stage of the transfer window.”

The 39-year-old also expressed concern over the club’s current crop of players and the ‘unexciting’ style new manager Louis Van Gaal has adopted at Old Trafford.

He was particularly worried about the defensive trio of Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Jonny Evans.

“I find myself asking, why are United’s current centre-halves not up to it?,” he said.

Scholes, who retired two seasons ago after an impressive career, regrets not realising the problems when he was playing.

“I suppose I should have realised that the very fact I was still playing for United at 38 years old was a sign that there was not enough pressure on us senior players from those coming into the side.”

Originally published as Former Manchester United ace Paul Scholes says the club need to spend big to arrest worrying decline