Former Liverpool defender Graeme Souness has admitted that he is unsure whether or not Manchester United needed to sign Jadon Sancho this summer because of the role Mason Greenwood can play.
After being heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford for more than a year, Sancho, who was named amongst the substitutes for Sunday afternoon's clash with Southampton, finally completed a move to United last month, joining from Borussia Dortmund in a £72.9million.
His arrival at United has significantly strengthened the club's right-wing options, with that position having been in need of bolstering for quite some time.
Despite his return to England acting as a huge statement of intent shown by United, Souness has questioned whether or not the club was in desperate need of him, insisting that Greenwood, who scored in last weekend's 5-1 win over Leeds United, can operate in the same role.
"I think they will go very close this year for the title," Souness told Sky Sports. "They have a really good squad this year, lots of firepower, certainly [Raphael] Varane will improve them.
"They have Sancho, too, but like I said last week I don’t know whether they need him as they have Greenwood who can fill in the wide areas."
Although Souness raised questions about United's decision to sign Sancho this summer, he did admit that he believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side will "come close" when challenging for the Premier League title this time around.
He continued: "I think United will come close this year, whether they are good enough when push comes to shove, I’m not convinced yet, but we are making these statements after one game.
"I don’t think you will succeed at a football club if you don’t have good senior professionals. There will be periods at every football club, what this football club has gone through recently where you ask your leaders and your big players to stand up.
"When you are winning games, everyone is together, but you only find out what you have got when you lose back-to-back games and that will happen to United, as it will to every team in the league this season."
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