Louis Saha says Manchester United are forced overpay for players.
United endured a frustrating end to the summer transfer window, failing to complete deals for Christian Eriksen, Paulo Dybala and Bruno Fernandes.
This was after the club broke the world-record fee for a defender when they bought Harry Maguire from Leicester, and Saha thinks the Red Devils are being priced out of deals.
"Manchester United are paying over the odds for players because teams know that United are desperate to strengthen our defence," the Frenchman told Bwin .
"The defenders that have been brought in are top quality, but I think their price tag would have been lower had they gone to a team that wasn't in the same position as United.
"Players such as [Ashley] Young have done a tremendous job in defence, but United have had too many makeshift defenders over the past few seasons and they needed to address the situation.
"The market has changed rapidly over the last decade and defenders won't be let go for the prices that they used to. If United want to reach the top again, then the starting eleven needs to be strong from defence to attack. They're not going to compete by just having a strong midfield and attack."
