Gary Neville has hailed Man Utd's change from "Football Manager" recruitment strategy following the immediate impact of Bruno Fernandes.
Fernandes was once again on form as United earned an important 2-0 victory over rivals Man City on Sunday.
The midfielder added another assist to his tally to set up United's opener, leaving Neville's fellow Sky Sports pundits Roy Keane and Jamie Redknapp in awe of his talents.
"He's lifted the players," Keane said. "It's like he's been there 20 years.
"Pure quality. And a big plus for Ole over the last year or so, the recruitment seems to be getting better. If you recruit good players it gives you a chance."
Neville pointed to the difference between the players United are now signing compared to a number of high-profile flops in recent years.
"If you think about recruitment at Man Utd, it's actually about the players that maybe they haven't signed," Neville said.
"What they seemed to be doing at one point is getting linked with a player and they'd jump in and panic, whereas now they seem to be a bit more thoughtful.
"[Odion] Ighalo seems to be the only one on the last day [of the transfer window], it was a necessity they had to get somebody in, it did seem a little bit erratic.
"But a few years ago it was like they were playing Football Manager. Falcao's available, [Angel] Di Maria's available, [Bastian] Schweinsteiger's available, whereas now I think they realise that strategy was not working at all."
Keane added: "Even the Bruno [Fernandes] one dragged on a bit. But It's hard to bring in good players. Deals can drag on.
"Sometimes that's not the clubs fault, agents involved, [Sporting] Lisbon – clubs can move the goalposts sometimes.
"Credit to United for actually getting the deal done. They were patient and they got him and he looks like he's going to be a big player for United for years."
Fernandes' showed clever trickery to set up Anthony Martial in the first half, lifting a free-kick over the City defence for his teammate to volley homes.
United never looked back from there and Fernandes was even involved in a touchline altercation with Pep Guardiola.
Source: Read Full Article