Manchester United's defeat at Burnley proved Fergie needs to get spending

By Mark Lawrenson

Published 22:11 21/08/09

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Manchester United’s defeat at Burnley told us one glaring thing – they need one more top quality signing.

What was magical about Cristiano Ronaldo was that he would destroy teams in the bottom half of the table.

Without Ronaldo, United lack that penetration, quality and also direct threat in the box.

Wayne Rooney looked lively and got some momentum going. I was impressed with Michael Owen’s movement and thought he did OK. But Dimitar Berbatov is a player who drifts out of the box too much.

The jury is out on Nani and also Antonio Valencia. To that end, United need one more. A Franck Ribery or David Silva. Ideas or invention.

Also they missed Rio Ferdinand and Vidic the other night. Without that pairing, they don’t look nearly as strong.

So why on earth run the risk of being a player short? You have £80m in the bank and Fergie needs to spend it.

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