Paul Scholes doesn’t believe Wout Weghorst possess enough quality to play for Manchester United.
The comments come after Manchester United’s shocking 7-0 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield.
Weghorst, 30, has scored just one goal in 14 appearances since joining United on loan from Burnley in January.
That has not stopped Weghorst becoming a popular member of the squad – among team-mates and fans – due to his tireless work rate, but Scholes feels that Weghorst is not at the required level to be a long-term solution for Erik ten Hag.
“Weghorst is in the team to be a defender, really,” Scholes told Premier League Productions, as quoted by the Metro.
“You’re talking about a Manchester United No.10 or a centre-forward, he’s in the team to be defensive. He’s the one who runs about and rats about and everybody likes playing with him because he does that.
“But quality-wise as well you’ve got to have a certain level of quality to play for Man United… it’s not there.
“Look, I don’t want to be too disrespectful. I don’t want to be too disrespectful to the team because they’ve been great, they’ve just won a trophy.
“I keep saying the word ‘freakish’, that is a really freakish day that, that is a really freakish day. I think they’ve got the experience, the character, the quality in the team to recover from that.
“I think there won’t be many players who have had beatings like that, but somehow they’re going to have to respond. I think on Thursday night he’ll freshen up, there’s a decent-sized squad now who have got a little bit of confidence about them, they’ll be looking at that thinking, ‘I should be playing’, they should be staking a claim for a place.”
However, I don’t think we should overlook how most of us only saw Weghorst as a short-term option in January. Cristiano Ronaldo had left and we knew Anthony Martial wasn’t reliable enough to lead the line by himself.
Weghorst has been a positive addition and I wouldn’t be against keeping him as an option from the bench next season. He rarely completes 90 minutes anyway.
Scholes added his view on what United need in the summer. The former midfielder is calling for a new right-back and a new striker.
“I actually feel sorry for him [Fernandes] when he’s played,” he continued.
“He’s been pushed out to many positions to do a job for the team, he was on the left today, he’s been on the right, he’s played through the middle, he has been a little bit all over the place. You can’t say any of the players performed the way they should have done but I thought he was especially poor today, it wasn’t his greatest afternoon.
“But I think there are a couple of players in that team that when it comes to big games like this I don’t think they’re quite at the level.
“I think the right-back position could be a problem.
“They clearly need a centre-forward if [Anthony] Martial’s going to have the injury record he’s got.”
Another signing we need is a back-up option for Casemiro. Hopefully United can find someone young with a high ceiling for that role next season.
Let us know in the comments section if you agree with Scholes when it comes to Weghorst.
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