Joey Barton thinks that Manchester United manager José Mourinho made the best signings of the summer, much better than Arsène Wenger fared with Arsenal.

Speaking on talkSPORT via the Express, the former Manchester City and Burnley man was most complimentary about Manchester United, saying: “Everybody is trying to sign what they don’t need. 

“The only one who has signed what he needed was Jose Mourinho. He’s gone and strengthened right through the spine of his team, he’s strengthened in the centre midfield area, the centre-forward area. Everybody else, I think they have forgotten about the basics of football, certainly Arsene Wenger.

“He’s created some great teams down the years and there was noise about whether he’s going to stay or whether he’s going to go, he decided to stay and give himself a lucrative two-year contract.”

Manchester United and José Mourinho had a massive budget this summer, as the two of them always do, so it’s no surprise they went and spent a large amount of money on players they needed in every position needed.

Arsenal didn’t do nearly as well as they should have in the transfer market, but in defence of the Gunners their situation was a lot more difficult from the start. Star players were in the final year of their contracts, the managerial situation wasn’t resolved and Arsenal didn’t have Champions League to use as a lure to bring in new players.

Many of these problems were of the club’s own making. Wenger should have resolved his own situation earlier, star players should have been signed up or sold a year or two ago, and perhaps those two things alone could’ve helped Arsenal have more money and Champions League football.

In the end, the Gunners did need to do more, whatever they were dealing with at the start, and will have to deal with the consequences on the pitch now if things go wrong.