Sheringham Claims United Should Have Signed Arsenal Golden Boy Not Fellaini

Teddy Sheringham has claimed that Manchester United should have signed Mesut Ozil in the summer rather than spending over £27m on acquiring Marouane Fellaini.

Fellaini made the move to Old Trafford in the dying minutes of deadline day and David Moyes has since been criticised over his moves during the transfer window.

The club's failure to land any of their other targets has left the squad slightly thinner than some may have hoped for, and Sheringham, who featured for United during some of their most successful years in the late 1990s and early 2000s, argues that Ozil would have been a much better purchase than the Belgium international.

"Out of Fellaini and Ozil you would really want Ozil to be your playmaker," he told Absolute Radio. "I think Fellaini is too similar in a way to Michael Carrick, but I love Michael Carrick as a player, he makes things tick.

"It makes you think, 'where is Fellaini going to play?' If you spend 28 million on someone you'd expect them to be playing."

Fellaini made his debut for United at the weekend when they defeated Crystal Palace 2-0, but the midfielder has admitted he is struggling to adapt to United's fast-paced training regimes.

Ozil, meanwhile, provided an assist for Olivier Giroud within 11 minutes of his debut against Sunderland at the weekend. The Arsenal man has been lauded as one of the top buys of the summer and Real Madrid players have been as shocked as Gunners fans are delighted that the Germany international went to north London.

Perceived failures in the transfer market will be the first of many pressures which will be placed on Moyes during his tenure as United manager and Sheringham says he doesn't envy the Scot at all as he begins his first season in one of the toughest jobs in football.

"I think David Moyes has got a tough job. To go in there and manage top players is hard," the former United man explained.

"We won't know how well he's doing until they go a couple of games without winning and all of a sudden the pressure is on and then you've got to show your mettle.

"At the moment things seem OK, but with a little bit of pressure we'll see what he's really made of."