Craig Bellamy has criticised Manchester United for their "desperate" scramble for a centre-back in the closing days of the summer transfer window.

The Red Devils have been linked with the likes of Harry Maguire, Toby Alderweireld, Yerry Mina and Jerome Boateng this week alone.

Boss Jose Mourinho is not expecting a deal to go through for any of the quartet, however, with the blame being put solely on executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward's shoulders.

Bellamy feels that Mourinho has allowed the World Cup to sway his thinking somewhat, which he claims is out of character for the Portuguese.

"It seems to me the World Cup has had an impact on them. It just seems with Mourinho that it's had an impact on him," he told Sky Sports News. "Mina as well, he went from Brazil to Barcelona, hasn't really had any game time at Barcelona. I'm sure United would've known of him, certainly Mourinho I imagine would have known of him as well. He had a decent World Cup with Colombia and suddenly he's on the radar. I'm just not sure, they've got themselves in a situation now where they're desperate.

"They need to get a centre-back in. They certainly seem very unsure of the players he has brought in before - [Eric] Bailly, [Victor] Lindelof. He isn't convinced by them. I just don't know, if I was an owner, I'm thinking, 'Well you've had a lot of money on these players, you don't fancy them. Now you want a lot of money for someone else?'

"I think Man United are a little bit desperate at this present moment which is not like them and not like Mourinho. It's just the late surge of it. They did good business with Fred. They were trying to get it done before the World Cup but before a ball was kicked they had it done.

"They identified a target - he didn't really play in the World Cup and had no impact - but they were well prepared and wanting to buy him before then. What panics me a little bit with Manchester United is just they're short in one or two areas, of course they are, but now it looks like they've got three or four players and they're going round the block now with it. That's just not like this football club."

Atletico Madrid centre-back Diego Godin emerged as a target for Man United early on deadline day, only for talks to reportedly quickly break down.