Gary Neville has provided a damning verdict on Manchester United's January transfer window business amid the signing of Odion Ighalo.
United made the decision to sign the Nigerian striker from Shanghai Shenhua last month due to a back injury suffered by Marcus Rashford.
Neville has been critical of the Reds' transfer strategy in the past and suggested that teams who stumble around at the end of windows, especially in January, are not adopting the right approach in the market.
Whilst Neville didn't take aim at the capture of Bruno Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon, he was quick to question the move for Ighalo.
"The Fernandes [signing] not so much because they’ve been linked for a long time," Neville told Sky Sports before the Chelsea clash this evening.
"I think they would have liked to have it done earlier in the window but when United come knocking teams know how desperate they are to get the deal done.
"Once they got him it was fine. I thought he did okay against Wolves , he switched positions in the second half, sat deeper and I thought it suited him more.
"Ighalo is the one that shocked everybody. We knew United were scrambling around because of the injury to [Marcus] Rashford.
"Why they’re scrambling around when they’ve known that [Alexis] Sanchez and [Romelu] Lukaku were leaving in the summer is beyond me.
"It still baffles me a little bit that a club can’t be smarter in the transfer market. That’s what we’ve come to expect from United at this moment in time. It’s not going to get any better it doesn’t seem.
"Ighalo, I liked him at Watford. What happens with him will have a big impact on the rest of the season. If he does succeed, people at United will gain confidence and the fans will love him. If he doesn’t do well, then it’ll reflect the club’s current recruitment strategy.
"When people said Ighalo at the end of the transfer window, it was a massive shock. It was like, ‘Where did that come from?
"There’s a massive risk attached to this signing but they did need someone in. With Rashford injured, Sanchez and Lukaku gone, they’ve got a shortage up there."
