The Arsenal legend offers Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho some transfer advice ahead of the January window.
Paul Merson says Jose Mourinho needs to sign a midfielder to secure a place in the Premier League’s top four this season.
The Manchester United manager has endured a tough start to his Red Devils career after he was appointed as Louis van Gaal’s replacement.
Mourinho’s side ended a four-game winless run in the English top flight with a 3-1 victory over Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium.
The 20-time English champions signed Paul Pogba in a world-record £89m deal from Serie A giants Juventus in the summer transfer window.
And the France midfielder scored Manchester United’s opener at Swansea before his fellow summer signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted two first-half goals in South Wales.
However, former Arsenal midfielder Merson believes Mourinho needs to open the cheque book and sign a midfielder in the January transfer window despite spending over £150m in the summer.
“Jose Mourinho has got to buy some players in January or Manchester United will not finish in the top four,” Merson wrote in his Daily Star column.
“That team is not good enough and they seem to have a lot of problems. I understand what he’s saying about how players should play even if they’re not 100 per cent.
“But there’s a way of doing it. If you do it in public you start losing players and that’s dangerous.
“United need a central midfielder who can dominate matches because they still don’t have one. Paul Pogba has yet to dominate a single game.
“Their best midfielder at the moment is Michael Carrick, and he’s 35! How can that be at a big club like United?”
Mourinho also signed Villarreal defender Eric Bailly and Borussia Dortmund playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan in deals totalling £60m in the summer.
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