Mikael Silvestre has warned Manchester United may struggle to attract the top players in the transfer market this summer, after admitting their pulling power has been lost amid their alarming slide in fortunes on and off the pitch.
Speaking exclusively to Football365, the former defender who won the Premier League title four times and also the Champions League during his time at United, fears the club may be forced to sign second tier players or rising stars as the biggest names in the game will not want to join a club that appears to be in a spiral of decline.
United have agreed a deal with Wolves for the signing of Brazil forward Matheus Cunha and have been linked with a host of big names players, but Silvestre is not convinced they will come to United after a disastrous season ended with their defeat in the Europa League final against Tottenham.
“The top players won’t sign for United because they are not in the Champions League and we don’t know when they will be there again,” Silvestre told Football365 with Poker Scout.
“If you are an international player for the top countries, you need to be playing every week in the Champions League, it’s as simple as that.
“Let’s take France manager Didier Deschamps. He will not send a scout to watch a French player at Manchester United because they are not playing at the highest level and in the Champions League. So that player will probably not get into the France team.
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“You look at Leny Yoro at the moment and will not be a high priority for Deschamps because he is playing for Manchester United.
“It’s different from when I was there and everyone wanted to join United. Now there are better options.
“So the club needs to look to sign young players who are maybe not quite there with the national teams and are looking to come through. That’s the players United need to sign now.”
Silvestre believes the culture of the club is a bigger problem than the personnel on the field, as he highlights the success of Scott McTominay and Antony after they left United as evidence of the enduring problems eating away at the club.
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“When players leave and they instantly do better with their next club, it doesn’t look good for United,” he stated. “McTominay has done so well at Napoli, Marcus Rashford did okay for Aston Villa and Antony was playing great for Real Betis.
“They look like they are having fun and performing well. It’s not a great look for United and that’s why you have to wonder what’s going on at United.”
When asked to give his verdict on why United have struggling so badly, he stated club’s failure to follow the example set by his former manager Sir Alex Ferguson is the primary reason for their decline.
“You can’t blame the problems on the current management or say it is Ruben Amorim’s fault,” added Silvestre. “Since Sir Alex Ferguson left, it has been a slow process to get to this point.
“Nobody took the baton from Sir Alex. Nobody was there to keep everyone in check and that is all about the culture.
“You can improve facilities at the training grounds, you can write whatever messages you want on the walls for motivation, but it is the people who make a football club. They build the culture. And the people have not been right at United for too long.
“Since Sir Alex left, everything he built at the club has gone away and when you look at the successful clubs, they have people at the club who build on success. United have not done that since Sir Alex left.
“That club culture, the winning mentality, has been absent. You don’t see enough former players who have involved any more.
“Some of these guys are on TV, some of them have coaching credentials and they could be more involved, but the club do not want that. They are on the outside and I would like to see these guys working at the club.
“There is a long list of players who did so well under Sir Alex could be involved now. Paul Ince, Dwight Yorke, Jaap Stam, Henning Berg. They have a lot to offer. I know Ole (Gunnar Solskjaer) came back, but these former players can offer a lot and they should be involved.
“With everyone gone from the successful times, everyone is second-guessing what a United culture needs to be. They don’t know what it was like to be there when they were winning.”