Paul Scholes has disclosed a comment from Jason Wilcox that he heard last year and deemed it a ‘big concern’.
Speaking on ‘The Good, The Bad & The Football’ podcast with former teammate Nicky Butt and comedian Paddy McGuinness, Scholes recounted an exchange between Manchester United’s Sporting Director and a pundit he’d been working alongside.
“One big concern I have over Jason Wilcox,” Scholes began. “I was doing a TV game last year, one of the Europa League games, and the person who I was with on the TV actually bumped into Wilcox and [he] said, ‘I don’t think we’re far away, you know. I think we could be three or four players away from being a really top team.’
“Now… that stuck in my head. I thought, ‘F*****g hell, it doesn’t feel like that to me!”
This is what Paul Scholes heard Jason Wilcox said behind-the-scenes…. 👀😳 pic.twitter.com/gWgWDGpnbV
— The Good, The Bad & The Football (@goodbadftblpod) January 6, 2026
How did INEOS and Wilcox back Ruben Amorim before 2025/2026?
United were, of course, eventually defeated in the UEL final following a dismal display against Tottenham Hotspur in the final in Bilbao.
The subsequent summer, Wilcox and the INEOS hierarchy bolstered Ruben Amorim’s ranks with over £200 million worth of signings.
Most notably, Amorim was granted an entirely new frontline in the form of Benjamin Sesko (£73.7m including add-ons), Bryan Mbeumo (£70m) and Matheus Cunha (£62.5m).
Lacklustre showings from Altay Bayindir and Andre Onana in the first month of the season then prompted the board to pursue a new shot-stopper, with Senne Lammens eventually signing from Royal Antwerp on deadline day.
Why Amorim was already displeased before the season began
Reports have suggested that, of the quarter of senior arrivals, Amorim was displeased that Wilcox and Co. had decided to pursue Sesko over a more experienced and Premier League-proven centre-forward like Ollie Watkins.
Amorim is now undoubtedly feeling aggrieved that his demands weren’t accounted for, given how United’s fortunes may have changed with a prolific frontman like Watkins leading the line over the young and struggling Sesko, who’s returned two goals in 17 appearances across all competitions.
