The Red Devils have struggled for success since their legendary former manager retired in 2013 but the 'Match of the Day' host believes that the Scot left the club in a poor state in comparison to Jurgen Klopp's departure from Liverpool last year.

Speaking on the BBC's FA Cup coverage, Lineker said: "If you look at Liverpool now, they’ve got a new manager in Arne Slot, and it’s testament to how Jurgen Klopp left the club in a really good state. So the structure is really good.

"That probably wasn’t the case at the end of Sir Alex Ferguson’s [time at Old Trafford]. I know they won the league that season, but it wasn’t their best side, and a lot of their great players were coming to the end of their careers. I think from there they had problems. The academy wasn’t delivering the players that they were before."

Former United player Wayne Rooney criticised the club's decision-making since Ferguson's retirement and believes that part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe's cost-cutting measures are a consequence of mismanagement.

He said: "I think everyone’s a little bit on edge. Over the last 10 years there’s been a slow decline at the football club and they just need to try and get some consistency in what they’re doing, whether that’s with the manager, with the process, recruitment and how they want to try and move forward. If they get that right then they will start to get better.

"Manchester United have spent a lot of money over the last 10 years but the structure hasn’t been there. They’re buying players as individuals and it looks like there hasn’t been a long-term plan to have this way of playing, the style, the identity.

"Then we see a new manager come in who wants his own way of playing, like we’re seeing now. Every time they’re starting to move forward a little bit, it gets ripped up again."