'No excuse for having just one world-class player' - Ince slams Manchester United

The former Manchester United midfielder considers David De Gea as the only top-notch talent at Old Trafford despite Jose Mourinho having been given millions to spend. 

Manchester United have “one world-class player”, claims Paul Ince, with no excuse for the club’s lack of quality after reasonable investment under the Portuguese coach. 

Since taking charge of the Red Devils in the summer of 2016, Mourinho has splashed out around £387 million.

However, Mourinho has claimed to still be in the process of rebuilding , with more cash required in order to close an ever-widening gap to the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea. 

Ince has been left perturbed by those claims, with a club of United’s stature unaccustomed to being in the position catch-me if you can with rivals.

Paul Ince believes several windows of poor recruitment are the sole reason for the regression, with questionable deals left Mourinho with just one global superstar at his disposal.

“When I was watching the match, I realised there was just one world-class player on the pitch for United, David De Gea. Ince told Paddy Power “How did it arrive to that? When you look at City, virtually all their players are at that level. “The fact is, United’s recruitment hasn’t been as good as City’s.

"Money can’t be cited as an excuse either – it’s not that Jose Mourinho hasn’t had millions to spend.”

While questioning the past deals, Ince has also slammed United’s mentality in the present, with Mourinho’s players accused of running scared in the derby match with defending champions City.

“In Jose Mourinho style, the players were set up as though they were terrified of conceding any goals, and didn’t try and outscore City either.” Ince added “Once the Citizens scored the first goal, they didn’t make any attempt whatsoever to get back to the game. Even when they tried, they were just not good enough.”

A disappointing derby defeat has left United in eighth position in the Premier League table and sweating to secure a top-four finish and a return to Champions League football for 2019-20 .