The Old Trafford great believes that Jose Mourinho can lift the club back to the summit of the Premier League after signing wisely in the summer

Peter Schmeichel thinks Manchester United made a statement of intent by signing Paul Pogba.

United initially signed Pogba from Le Havre in 2009, but three years later he left the club for Juventus on a free transfer after finding first-team minutes hard to come by.

After four successive Scuddeti with the Turin giants, the France international returned to Old Trafford in August in a deal worth a record-breaking initial €105 million.

Schmeichel believes the signing proves United remain a force to be reckoned with, despite their struggles since the departure of Alex Ferguson in 2013.

The former goalkeeper also praised the club's financial ethos, rather than relying on the backing of rich owners like Premier League rivals City and Chelsea.

Schmeichel told Omnisport: "He went away, spent four very successful years with Juventus and now Man United brought him back and paid an absolute fortune.

"You can argue how you can let him go in the first place, but the important thing is the statement that he is the best player in the world for that position.

"And we don't care how much he costs, we can pay him. So can Man City, so can Chelsea, so can other clubs, but we can too. We make our own money; we don't have someone sat back putting the money in.

"We make our own money and that's how successful we are as Manchester United and we can buy the players we want. And I think that's a great statement, we as supporters haven't seen that for three years."

Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitayran also joined in big-money transfers, while Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic signed on a free transfer after his Paris Saint-Germain contract expired.

Jose Mourinho's new additions excite Schmeichel, who is confident they can help lead the 20-time champions of England back to where they belong.

He added: "We've paid over the odds for so many players and we've thought: 'Why are we paying this? What is this player going to do to bring Manchester United up to the next level and back to where we were?'

"But now, with four great signings, Mourinho's done that. He's picked four really good players, players that will fit in to the team straight away, and they have done."

Peter Schmeichel was speaking on behalf of Nabufit. Available on Google Play and the App Store.