Manchester United: Adidas chief Herbert Hainer voices concern over Red Devils style of play

Adidas chief executive Herbert Hainer has criticised Manchester United's style of play despite commenting that the merchandising major is selling more shirts than expected. United's win over Swansea City has broken a spell of eight games without a win in all competitions for the Red Devils, who have dropped out of the top four and are behind Tottenham Hotspur.

United signed a record £750m ($1104m) deal with Adidas over the summer, to take over from their previous kit sponsors Nike, making them the most commercially viable club in the Premier League. However, the extra income has done little to appease the fans or the sponsors, as the Red Devils have managed only 22 goals thus far, the lowest among the top seven teams in the league.

"Business with Man United is going very well, we sell more shirts than expected," Hainer told the newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung. "We are satisfied ... even if the current playing style of Man United is not exactly what we want to see."

Louis van Gaal's men are currently on 33 points, only three short of fourth placed Tottenham but nine adrift of leaders Arsenal at the top of the table. The Dutchman will be looking to flex his financial muscle in January, in a bid to turn their season around, with an attacker and a defender on top of his transfer list for the window.

The Red Devils are extremely short in the full-back regions, with Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo and Antonio Valencia all out through injuries. In attack, they have been debilitated by the inconsistent form of Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial, who have only just broken their goalscoring duck after going months without a goal in the league.

They have been heavily linked with a move for Southampton forward Sadio Mane, who has been earmarked by Van Gaal as the man to lead their attack until the end of the season. Lazio midfielder Felipe Anderson is another prospect who is being talked about, but United are yet to make any concrete bid for the player.