Schmeichel: Manchester United made a big mistake by selling Wheat and Hoylen, both of them have Manchester United characteristics

October 16th Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel was interviewed recently and criticized his old club’s recent transfer decisions.

Manchester United is currently ranked 10th in the Premier League. They have only won 6 league games since the beginning of the year. In order to reverse the poor state of only ranking 15th last season, the club made large-scale adjustments to the lineup in the summer and introduced players such as Cunha, Mbemo, and Sheshko. At the same time, Manchester United also purged some players. Many stars, including Rashford, Sancho, Onana and Hoylen, were loaned to top European clubs.

Among these loaned players, Hoylen quickly regained his form. After two bad seasons at Old Trafford, his adaptation process in Naples was smoother than expected. The Danish forward has scored 2 goals in 4 Serie A games under Conte and scored 2 goals in 2 Champions League games.

Schmeichel said: "Just look at his cooperation with De Bruyne and McTominay in Naples. He is scoring goals. I have been insisting on this view for two and a half years. Hoylen will become Manchester United's 25-goal striker per season, but he needs support."

"We are because of him. He was given up for few goals last season, and Sheshko was introduced at the same time, and Cunha and Mbemo were also signed, these players could have provided top assists to Hoylen."

Schmeichel also pointed out that the decision to introduce Sheshko when Hoylen was still on the team was a bit strange, because Hoylen already lacked fire support. He said: "We spent more than 70 million pounds to buy Sheshko, but at this time we are short of the midfielders we deserve and have problems with the goalkeeper position. Why bring in people we don't need? Because the recruitment director is from Leipzig, he needs to make results."

Schmeichel added that he believed that the decision-makers with their own agendas, such as Vivier, Amorim, former sports director Ashworth and current sports director Wilcox, are in power together, which may cause instability.

During the international break, Hoylen proved that his club performance could carry over to the national team, scoring twice against Belarus. His loan deal contains a mandatory buyout clause next summer.

But in Schmeichel's view, the 22-year-old Hoylen's new teammate McTominay represents one of Manchester United's most serious transfer mistakes in the past few seasons. The Scottish midfielder has played for Manchester United since his youth, but failed to win the long-term trust of ten Hag and moved to Napoli at the beginning of the 2024-25 season. McTominay subsequently contributed 13 goals and 6 assists in his debut season, helping Napoli win the Serie A championship and was elected league MVP.

For Schmeichel, it is a deep regret to let go of this player with Manchester United characteristics. He said: "The problem lies in his versatility, because some players can only play one position, and successive coaches are not confident about building a team with him as the core."

"They prefer technical players. He has become a victim time and time again. I can't understand why these two are in Naples. Hoylen has also been a Manchester United fan since he was a child. He never complains and therefore wins the love of Manchester United fans."