Andy Cole has boldly stated that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has to be a 'very good salesman' in the transfer market to convince star players to join Manchester United over rivals Liverpool and Manchester City.
Premier League champions Liverpool signed Thiago Alcantara and Diogo Jota last week, while City have bought Ferran Torres and Nathan Ake this summer. United's only significant summer purchase has been Donny van de Beek for £40m.
So far, United have failed in their pursuit of their top target, Borussia Dortmund forward Jadon Sancho, and former United striker Cole insists Solskjaer now has a job on his hands to persuade players to join the new generation at Old Trafford.
'When Manchester United were dominating all the best players wanted to come to Man United and they wanted to come for a reason, because they had the opportunity of winning and that's what it's about,' the 1999 treble winner told Goal.
'When you don't have the opportunity to win you're not going to say you will go to Man United if Liverpool or Man City are interested. Instead, you're going to go to one of those clubs where you can win things.
'To convince players at the peak of their playing career to join a club and a project that will take two or three years, you've got to be a very good salesman.'
United failed to meet Dortmund's £108m asking price for Sancho and a move now appears unlikely to materialise before the October 5 transfer deadline.
Cole questioned if ex-City youth-team player Sancho is actually keen to return to Manchester, given he is yet to formally force through a move away from the Bundesliga.
'Sancho hasn't made any fuss about trying to force a move to United. If he was doing that I would turn around and think this kid really fancies going,' Cole said.
'From the outside looking in it looks like he thinks "yeah, I will get on with things at Dortmund, I'm not really fussed about it." So does he really want to come? Previously when people have wanted to come, the player has said "I want to go."'
Another player from the treble-winning team under Sir Alex Ferguson, Gary Neville, has also been critical of United's failure to land their top targets this summer.
'You see Liverpool getting a player for £40m, £25m, you see other clubs do it,' Neville told Sky Sports.
'[Timo] Werner is quite cheap compared to some of the prices of players you see in the market and United always seem to have to pay top dollar and the people at the club will not like that, almost as though they are easy pickings. And there is a suggestion of that.
'The problem is, they have to find a way to get deals done and they can't get deals done efficiently.
'And it is negligence not to get the squad in place, they have had six months since March when lockdown was on being able to deliberate, do zoom calls, connect with agents, move things into place.
'There is no excuse really for not getting your transfers done before the start of the season.'