Former Manchester United midfielder Luke Chadwick believes the Red Devils and Chelsea were the two big winners of the summer transfer window.
Chadwick, who played for Man Utd between 1999 and 2004, feels the signings done by his old club will surely go a long way to close the gap between themselves and last season’s champions Manchester City, though he does think there might also be an issue for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in midfield.
Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside, Chadwick also named Chelsea as the other main winner of the transfer window, with Romelu Lukaku already paying off for them, while the Blues’ deadline day signing Saul could also have been useful at Old Trafford.
“I think you’ve got to say United and Chelsea have had by far the best transfer window,” Chadwick said. “Only time will tell, but at Chelsea they’re already seeing the benefits of bringing in Lukaku, and did an impressive bit of business late on bringing in a talented player in Saul.
MORE: Gary Neville names who should be Manchester United captain
“Chelsea and United are the ones who’ve really got closer to City. Liverpool didn’t do a huge amount, City didn’t do much apart from Jack Grealish.
“It’s going to be interesting … obviously United had that brilliant start against Leeds, followed by two not-so-brilliant performances since then, but nicked the win against Wolves. Varane made an immediate impact, giving them their first clean sheet.
“So United and Chelsea have definitely done the smartest work, and only time will tell if they’ve done enough to get closer to Man City.
“I think United are definitely a bit light in midfield,” he added. “All the efforts went into signing Cristiano Ronaldo, which is fair enough, and Saul ended up going to Chelsea, which would’ve been a great signing. We’d have been a bit spoilt if we’d got a central midfielder as well! McTominay being injured is a big blow, Ole changed the shape slightly on Sunday with just Fred holding, but I don’t think he’s really set for that position, it left the team a bit open. I think Matic might get more game time.
“The pressure’s really on those players now, particularly Fred, who didn’t have a great game, and with McTominay now out of action. We spoke a lot about the centre half position and number 9 last season, and they’ve strengthened there, but the midfield still looks a bit of a concern.”