Paul Scholes believes Manchester United should have made signing Tottenham playmaker Christian Eriksen a priority during the summer transfer window.
The Dane has expressed his desire to leave the north London club as he seeks a new challenge and the Red Devils emerged as late contenders for his signature with Ole Gunnar Solksjaer looking to boost his creativity in the engine room.
However, the MEN understands that the club passed on the opportunity to sign the former Ajax star, in order to focus on keeping Paul Pogba at the club amid significant interest from Real Madrid.
United believe that Eriksen would rather move to Spain and rejected the chance to enter a bidding war for his services.
United legend Scholes believes the midfielder would have been a fantastic addition to the squad and could have had a similar impact as Kevin De Bruyne did at rivals Manchester City.
"I was quite excited when Christian Eriksen got mentioned," Scholes said on Robbie Savage's Premier League Breakfast. "He could have made a big difference to United in the way De Bruyne plays for City, creating chances and scoring goals."
The former England international added: "But they haven't got that and they have some good players so the target is top four and I think they will make it."
As well as United's failure to land an attacking midfielder, there was also no replacement signed for Romelu Lukaku who departed for Inter Milan on deadline day.
Solskjaer is content with his attacking options as he feels youngster Mason Greenwood will make the step up to the first-team this season, the MEN understands.
However, Scholes feels the club lack firepower following Lukaku's exit.
He said: "It is a worry for me, the centre-forward position,"
"They have got players like Rashford and Martial, Greenwood, but are they really No.9s?
"We have to wait and see. I think they are flipping between being a wide player and being a centre forward.
"They are yet to prove they can score 25-30 goals a season."
