Former Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic has claimed the club has been 'cheated' in the transfer market in recent years.
Vidic spent eight-and-a-half years at Old Trafford and remains the last Manchester United captain to lift the Premier League trophy.
The club have spent more than a decade in the wilderness, failing to challenge for the Premier League once in that time, being limited to a handful of domestic cups and one Europa League. Vidic believes that while the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson was naturally seismic, the simultaneous exit of David Gill had a similar impact, and that Gill's successor Ed Woodward was an inadequate replacement.
When asked by Gary Neville on The Overlap if he'd have believed someone telling him in 2013 that the club wouldn't win the title again in the next 12 years, Vidic said: "No chance. My feeling is that Sir Alex Ferguson left but also David Gill left. That's two big personalities, two people that have been with the club for 25 years, difficult to replace.
"Ed Woodward taking that position was above his knowledge and what he's capable to do. He did fantastic for the club in terms of marketing, bringing money to the club, but dealing with the agents, dealing with the players, I think that role needs someone who has experience with that.
"I think with the salaries, with the money we pay for certain players, we've been cheated."
United have perhaps been the most wasteful club in the world over the last decade, breaking transfer records and being saddled with expensive flops on high wages, preventing the club from challenging for the Premier League and on occasion even qualifying for the UEFA Champions League in what has been a 12-year exile from the pinnacle of the game.
The fall from grace started immediately following Ferguson's exit in 2013, and Vidic said he was surprised that David Moyes didn't impose himself more on the side upon his arrival at the club.
"David came to Belgrade to meet me," said Vidic. "He told me I would be his captain and he asked me what I think about certain things and I told him, we had quite an open conversation but I felt he was insecure in what he was going to do - is he going to play his football or let us play the football we played before?
"It was difficult coming to Manchester United, having a team which won the Premier League and saying 'I'm going to play this style of football,' [but] we thought he was going to be more precise in the ideas he was going to have on the pitch; he was more like 'do whatever you think is right, do what you did before'.
"That's something I think that maybe we could do better, or David could [show more] character at that time and saying 'guys, this is the way I'm playing'."
Moyes was sacked after less than a year in charge as 2014 saw the departure of a number of the club's most successful players with Ryan Giggs retiring as well as Vidic, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra all leaving, marking the end of an era.
Signing as a relative unknown in the January transfer window in 2005, Vidic found the start to life at the club testing, with Neville admitting that in Vidic's early days at Old Trafford, he wasn't sure if the Serbian had a long-term future at the club, thoughts Vidic was all too aware of... "You and Giggsy were saying 'who is this guy?!' and Paul [Scholes] as well! [But] after the first pre-season with you guys, then I was a regular.
"When we won the first Premier League, for me it was relief, and then I knew I was playing for Manchester United, because even if you play well and don't win, you're not a Manchester United player.
"Even playing for Red Star Belgrade, if you don't win, you're not going to count as somebody and be recognised. After that, I was more confident about my game."
Over the better part of a decade, Vidic went on to become a club legend at Old Trafford, but the former defender revealed he was in talks to sign for their biggest rivals before taking a pay cut to sign for United.
"[Then-Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez and I] talked once or twice but nothing happened for two or three weeks," said Vidic. "Then Fergie just called me once and said 'do you want to play for United?', I said yes and the deal was done in four days.
"Actually the mistake I made at the time, I said I wanted to play for Manchester United but I didn't say how much money! At the time it wasn't about money, I wanted to test myself.
"I was paid double in Moscow than when I came to Manchester, but Ferguson and David Gill told me the contract was just the beginning, and after 20, 25 games, I signed a new contract."
