Paul Scholes has offered a withering assessment of the state of Manchester United’s squad by saying that the club are “a long way behind” and will need to sign five or six world-class players to “get anywhere near the top of the Premier League again”.

Ed Woodward, the executive vice-chairman, was not spared by Scholes, either, as the former midfielder cast a critical eye over a miserable past 12 months for United, who failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 18 years by finishing seventh in the Barclays Premier League.

Scholes, who served as a coach at Old Trafford for the final four games of the season after David Moyes’s sacking, said success in bolstering the squad would hinge on