Rio Ferdinand has insisted that Sir Alex Ferguson would have abandoned Manchester United's pursuit of Frenkie de Jong by now - just weeks after the former Red Devils defender backed Erik ten Hag's bid to land the Barcelona star.
United have been chasing De Jong all summer after Ten Hag identified the 25-year-old as his primary transfer target, however, a move has failed to materialise as the playmaker seemingly has no interest in moving to Old Trafford.
Despite De Jong's reluctance to leave the Camp Nou, Ten Hag has refused to admit defeat in his bid to prise the Netherlands international away from the Spanish giants.
Ferdinand himself told Mirror Football that he believed United had been given encouragement to pursue the 25-year-old and that he was backing the club to get a deal done for the sought-after midfielder at the start of the month.
But the former England star has now changed his stance on the protracted pursuit - and he believes that Ferguson and other top Premier League managers such as Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola would have called time on the sorry saga by now.
Speaking on his FIVE YouTube channel after United were thrashed 4-0 by Brentford at the weekend, Ferdinand fumed: "We're not in the market for the top players. We're going out and we're waiting for three-and-a-half months to sign Frenkie de Jong. With all due respect, he's a great player, but we're almost whoring ourselves out for this player for three months of the transfer window with our cap in hand begging, 'Please come to us'".
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He continued: "I think Ten Hag is sitting there thinking, 'This has been a complete shambles for me because I came in expecting to really revamp this first team with about five or six players that I believe could change our fortunes or give us a better opportunity of being a better team'.
"And he's struggling to get over the line and his main target [De Jong], they've not got anywhere near it. They've walked around behind him begging him, 'Please turn round and notice us', and he's looking around and saying, 'Not for me'.
"And we're still there, 'Please give us one chance'. How are we putting ourselves in that position? How are we allowing ourselves to be put in a position like that? Do you think Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola or Six Alex Ferguson or Jose Mourinho would be following around a player like this? They wouldn't be doing that.
"You don't want to come to us? Right, go away, go about your business, good luck to you, move onto the next target. It frustrates the life out of me."
Ferdinand went on to stress that United's shambolic recruitment was a problem long before Ten Hag arrived at the club. He added: "It shows you how shocking recruitment has been at this football club. The recruitment since Sir Alex Ferguson's time at the club has been an absolute joke.
"How many players have come in? 45? 50? Whatever it is, have any of them players grown in value? I would say no. Normally you would fall on two or three accidental diamonds that fall out of that number of transfers we've done. We’ve not even had that.
"How can it possibly go so wrong? And a lot of money has been spent on players, obviously not the right ones, and it comes down to the people picking those players and then once the players are in the building, not improving as players. It's been an absolute shambles."
