Sevilla's director of football Monchi has suggested Manchester United are missing a trick by not having somebody at the club who specialises in dealing with transfers.
Donny van de Beek remains United's only addition this summer and the international deadline for transfers is on October 5.
This summer's frustrations follow years of misspending since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, although United's signings have improved under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Monchi, who has developed a reputation as one of Europe's best directors of football said he is staggered that the club haven't appointed their own man to lead transfer negotiations.
“This is my opinion – all clubs should have this position,” Monchi told The Telegraph. “What is the main function? To dedicate the time to everything that relates on a sports level. Where 60-70 per cent of the budget is allocated to the first team, if you don’t have a specialist who deals with that, it is very difficult to understand.
“I do understand there are very successful clubs – Manchester United are probably one of the top five in the world, but they do not have that specific position – but I think that clubs more and more are aware that they really need this position and also we are the connection between the technical staff, the squad, the board, we know the market, we get lots of information through the different scouts.
“So, for me, I can’t believe a club does not have this particular position. Logically, I have to believe in it because that’s what I do. But I do think it’s essential.”
He added: “There are clubs like Leeds, Liverpool and [Manchester] City, amongst others, that are working with quite a well-developed sporting management structure.
“It is difficult for us to compete with English football, but we do so by making our brand name known, which is undoubtedly associated with success.
“Maybe we can’t pay that much, but we (Sevilla) can offer a very exclusive sporting challenge, I would say almost unique. There are the numbers... 20 finals in this century, 10 titles, kings of the Europa League, we are specialists in doing more with less.”
