Sutton slams Manchester United for offloading both Sanchez and Lukaku

Former Premier League ace Chris Sutton has slammed Manchester United for their decision to offload both Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku this summer. Lukaku made the move to Inter Milan on a permanent deal before the English transfer deadline and the Red Devils have since sanctioned the temporary move for Sanchez to the same club.

As a result, they are currently with just two strikers in the form of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial and there is basically no back-up with only the inexperienced Mason Greenwood on the bench. Speaking to The Mirror, Sutton said that the Red Devils don’t have the credentials to make the top four this term, considering the lack of genuine goalscoring options upfront.

He added that it won’t be a surprise, if manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is sacked from the head coach role before the close of the 2019/2020 campaign, he told: “United haven’t got the players to get [back into the top four]. I can’t believe they let Alexis Sanchez go. They had already sold Romelu Lukaku and signed no replacement, so they were already light up front. I fear Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has cut his nose off to spite his face. He’s now relying on Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, maybe even 17-year-old Mason Greenwood to do a job up front. I’m not so sure Solskjaer will [make it until the end of the season].”

The Red Devils made just three signings during the summer transfer window and they did not come on the cheap. While Daniel James was purchased from Swansea City for around £17m, the club had to cough up around £130m to pursue Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire from Crystal Palace and Leicester City respectively.

Each of those signings have made a good mark of the proceedings but there remains a weakness in the midfield and striking department which was not solved during the summer transfer window. The Red Devils are currently eighth on the table with just five points after the opening four league matches.