Ryan Giggs says Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needs five new players to revive Manchester United.
United have taken only nine points from seven games to make their worst start to a top-flight campaign for 30 years.
Solskjaer’s side have not scored more than one goal in a match since an opening-day win over Chelsea – and hopes of a top-four spot at Old Trafford appear a distant prospect.
Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James were recruited this summer at a cost of £145million, but United great Giggs says much more is needed for the club to recapture past glories.
“They need another four or five players,” Wales manager Giggs said ahead of United’s Sunday visit to Newcastle.
“He (Solskjaer) has bought in three players but he probably needs seven or eight (altogether).
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“But you can’t do that over one transfer window, so you have to be patient because it will be slow.
“The culture has changed and what he is trying to do was much needed. He needs time.”
Steve Bruce, another one of Giggs’ former United team-mates, has his own problems at Newcastle with the Magpies in the relegation zone.
Newcastle have only won once this season and Bruce accused his players of “complete surrender” after their 5-0 thrashing at Leicester last weekend.
“I knew Brucey as a player and he was a leader,” Giggs said.
“I’ve also spoken to players who have played for him and they have enjoyed it. It’s a tough club, Newcastle.
“When you don’t win regularly at big clubs you are going to get criticised.
“But Brucey and Ole are big enough characters to turn it around, with time and a bit of luck. Every manager needs that.”
The fortunes of the two clubs are a long way from when they were battling each other for the Premier League title in the 1990s.
Giggs played in some great games between them when Sir Alex Ferguson’s United held the edge over Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle.
“The one that stands out is the game we got battered and won 1-0,” Giggs recalled of a March 1996 game on Tyneside.
“Peter Schmeichel kept us in the game and then Eric (Cantona) popped up to score the winner like he did that season.
“It’s my biggest memory. We always did well there.”
