Mourinho still sweeping up the mess of Van Gaal's 'really poor' signings - Neville

The Red Devils were not as busy as they had hoped in the last transfer window, with a former boss considered to be partly to blame for those struggles

Jose Mourinho has been hindered throughout his time at Manchester United by the “really poor” signings of Louis van Gaal before him, says Gary Neville.

The Red Devils boss was left to reflect on a frustrating transfer window as the most recent deadline passed, with Old Trafford welcoming just three fresh faces through its doors.

international Fred was the most notable addition, at £52.5 million ($67m), but there has been some rather more elaborate spending overseen in years gone by.

Mourinho has been responsible for some of that, including big-money deals for the likes of Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku, but he is considered to be making amends for his predecessor.

Former United defender and Sky Sports pundit Neville said: “The club have spent £700m since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, it’s a fortune.

“If you’d have said to me six years ago that were the title winners and then would spend £700m in the next few years, I would have said that they would have won multiple titles.

“It hasn’t gone well, but you’ve got to remember Jose Mourinho has spent a lot of money, but the Louis van Gaal signings I have to say were really poor.

“So Jose Mourinho has had to get out of the club seven, eight, nine, 10 players, and then get them in.

“He’s only been here two years, he’s not been here 15 years.

“So for me there is still more investment to do to make up for the mistakes in those first three or four seasons.

“I actually like the signings Jose Mourinho has made, they’re more along the lines of the players I’d like to see at this football club.”

United made a winning start to their 2018-19 campaign on the opening weekend of Premier League action, with Leicester seen off 2-1 at Old Trafford.

Pogba was among the goals in that contest, along with Luke Shaw, and much of the post-match reaction has focused on the Frenchman and his sometimes strained relationship with Mourinho.