Paul Scholes’ return may be cause for concern for Manchester United fans

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Now that the novelty of seeing Paul Scholes in a United shirt again has worn off, there’s a nagging doubt that needs to be addressed.

Is Scholes’ reactivation a sign that Sir Alex Ferguson has no real intention of doing any business this month?

This is a Manchester United squad that looks very stale. Ferguson may well have raged against their second-half inefficiencies, but really that anger is better directed at his own stubborness in failing to recruit any real midfield specialty. A failure to keep the ball and take the sting out of a game? Nearly always born out of midfield inadequacy.

If the player now wearing United’s number 22 shirt was the pre-2005 version of Scholes, then great – he would be offering a full-time solution, but that’s just not the case. Bringing the player out of retirement offers little more than a feel good factor – that’s not to diminish Scholes’ status or his contribution to the game, but be realistic, he hasn’t played for 8 months and still looked off the pace last season.

This just has the feel of a gesture, a move designed to add numbers rather than originality. United, if they are to be the team that we all recognise, need to become more forthright in the transfer market, otherwise results like yesterday – i.e. positive outcomes against top-tier opposition – are going to become scarce. Take Wayne Rooney and Nani out of that team, and it’s actually very average, even with them it’s sometimes underwhelming.

The team needs a ball-winner, a firebrand, a leader, and it needs someone with creativity in the middle of the pitch. Unfortunately, Scholes is neither of those anymore, and his reappearance suggests that Ferguson is still not ready to embrace the future.

Spend some money.