Ruben Amorim warned over Man United job as Graeme Souness tears into two Ineos figures

Manchester United are close to appointing Ruben Amorim as their next manager, but former Liverpool icon Graeme Souness has some harsh words for Ineos.

Graeme Souness, the Liverpool legend, has criticised Manchester United's management for their lack of football knowledge and giving incoming manager Ruben Amorim an impossible task. He accused United's new leadership structure of squandering £200million on subpar signings in the summer and undermining former manager Erik ten Hag by considering potential replacements before his dismissal.

Souness claimed that United - England's most successful club with a record 20 league titles - are at their worst in the Premier League's three-decade history, with a squad unfit for purpose. Speaking on William Hill podcast, Three Up Front, the 71-year-old pundit said: "I think the club are at their lowest point in the history of the Premier League, with the lowest quality group of players they've had in that time."

Souness continued: "I look at Manchester United since Ineos came in and it's screaming out to me that they don't really get football," and added: "They've now got their so-called footballing people in charge, in Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox, and can't believe for one minute they didn't have input on the players they signed in the summer."

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As per reports from The Mirror, the ex-Sky Sports pundit further criticised the signings of Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee, saying: "If they think those players are good enough for United, they're wrong... They've still allowed £200million to be spent on players like that.

"They've had one summer at the club and look what they've done with it. That has to fall at Ashworth's door."

Plans to appoint Amorim are moving forward at Old Trafford. However, the Portuguese - currently at Sporting CP - will face a significant challenge in the Premier League and with what awaits upstairs, according to Souness at least.

Souness went on: Amorim's job now is to get the best out of this group of players, in whatever system that might be. He's walking into what is a very difficult job.

"Where they went really wrong was during the off-season," Souness continued. "It was public knowledge that they were out looking for and interviewing a new manager. Did they have any thought about what that was going to do for Erik ten Hag's position in the dressing room? They cut his legs off.

"Then they turned around - maybe feeling guilty about speaking to several other managers - and gave him another year's contract. As a player, then I would be thinking; 'He's not going to be here for very long'."