Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has claimed that the club may need to sign 10 new players this summer to get their rebuild on track.
The Red Devils were thrashed 4-0 by rivals Liverpool at Anfield on Tuesday night, with the visitors' deficiencies racing to the surface.
However, Rangnick said that people need to understand that United are not on the same level as their Merseyside foes and pointed to how the Reds' squad has progressed under Jurgen Klopp's tutelage.
"Jurgen came six years ago and if you compare the squad he inherited, he came after eight or nine games and finished eighth, this is roundabout where we are currently. He had a point average of that season of 1.6 but with every transfer window after that they develop the kind of squad we have today," Rangnick said.
"I am not blaming anyone, not my players nor anyone else, but we just have to realise what kind of squad they had available.
"Look at their bench, look at the four players who weren't even in the squad: Roberto Firmino was the only one who was injured. Oxlade-Chamberlain wasn't in the squad, Minamino was not in the squad, Harvey Elliott was not in the squad. This shows what kind of quality and team they have built together working with Jurgen and his team for the last six years.
"It is not just the quality of players but what kind of mentality they have, what kind of energy and physicality compared with high-speed. I would say they have 25 Formula One cars in their squad."
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It was then put to Rangnick that such a six-year plan was unlikely to take place at United because of their turnover of managers, but he was dismissive of such a notion.
"Why not? In our own city it happened with Pep [Guardiola]," he added.
"If you look at the two clubs who are currently dominating the Premier League, they did exactly that. They brought in two managers and not only did they bring in two managers, they also changed the whole thing in terms of formation, what kind of players do they need? What kind of football do we want to play?
"The headline of everything was 'how do we want to play?' And underneath this headline after every transfer window, they created the team they have in both clubs.
"If you analyse the situation, it's not that difficult to analyse. The team needs a rebuild, not because some players have to go but quite a few have no contracts anymore, their contracts are expiring, then for me it's clear there will be six, seven, eight, maybe 10 new players.
"And before you sign those players you need to be aware how do you want to play? What kind of football does the new manager want to play? And then take it from there and then bring every single player fitting into that kind of profile."
Source : 90min