Louis Saha has claimed that Manchester United should have activated the release clause of Tottenham Hotspur defender Toby Alderweireld earlier in the transfer window.

Spurs have spent much of the summer fearing that an interested club would meet the £25m buy-out clause for the centre-back, until that option expired towards the end of July.

United have since spent £80m on Leicester City defender Harry Maguire, although it appears that Saha would have preferred two of his former clubs to have done business.

The 40-year-old told Bwin: "Why United didn't trigger Alderweireld's release clause is a complete mystery to me. He's been excellent for Tottenham and would have instantly strengthened United's defence.

"When you look at the money United have spent on defenders this summer, they could have got themselves an absolute bargain who still has a lot of years of football to play. United clearly made Maguire the main target, but the pair could have been a real force together."

While adding Maguire to his squad at Old Trafford, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also has youngster Axel Tuanzebe at his disposal for the next campaign.