Several senior Manchester United players are understood to have questioned the club’s failure to compete with Liverpool for the signing of a defender who has rapidly emerged as one of the best in the business in the Premier League this season, a well-informed journalist has revealed.

The Red Devils are preparing for what they hope will be a bright new era at Old Trafford after they confirmed an agreement has been struck to hire Mauricio Pochettino as their new manager, with the Argentine having negotiated a lucrative two-and-a-half-year deal with INEOS to succeed Michael Carrick.

The 54-year-old is expected to take up the position from Thursday and will be in the dugout for the clash against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday November 22 – a baptism of fire if ever there was one.

Given United go into the clash sat 18th in the table with just one Premier League win to their name all season, it will be a tall order for Pochettino to secure an instant response from his players, despite the new boss being tasked with three big targets across the remainder of this season.

There also lies lots of sympathy with the man he replaces at the helm, with many feeling Carrick was sold out by those above him, having failed to deliver on the manager’s major transfer targets this summer and leaving him with a squad full of holes.

With the club looking woefully stale in defence and light in attack, serious questions have been raised by pundits and fans alike over the state of INEOS’s summer business, with any manager likely to feel handicapped by the restraints placed on them by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and those also calling the shots at Old Trafford.

Indeed, Lisandro Martinez has already got into bother for shooting his mouth off at the state of United’s summer business, with the Argentine letting his emotions get the better of him after a recent Champions League loss at Atletico Madrid.

Their defensive line has looked painfully brittle. And having shipped an alarming 30 goals already this season – no side in Europe’s top five leagues has conceded more – a journalist has suggested that several senior players have questioned INEOS over their failure to land an easy-to-obtain Liverpool star who only moved to Anfield late in the summer…

Man Utd stars angry at Ronald Araujo miss

Ronald Araujo is the player in question, with the Uruguayan star rapidly making himself a huge fans’ favourite at Anfield and having adjusted like a duck to water to the demands of the Premier League.

The 27-year-old moved to Anfield on a season-long loan from Barcelona, with the Merseysiders securing an option to make his the move permanent next summer for a fee of €55million (£47.2m, $63.8m).

Whether Liverpool actually meet that fee remains open to debate, and with the player himself admitting he is keeping an open mind on what happens next, given it is currently “too soon” to make any decisions beyond this season.

Clearly, in the meantime, both Liverpool and Araujo can enjoy their time together for this season at least, with the player proving a solid option to the Reds either at centre-back or, where he is more frequently seen, at right-back.

According to journalist Ben Jacobs, though, there is an air of frustration around some senior players at Old Trafford that United did not try to bring Araujo in themselves.

Speaking to The United Stand, he explained: “Man Utd players, I was saying this on the last show, even though they were not specifically saying we should have got Ronald Araujo, they were wondering why Liverpool can just go out in the market and get an outstanding leader, an experienced Barcelona player and someone that’s captain of Barcelona, on a loan, really easily, really discreetly. Job done.”

Jacobs added: “Where’s that low-hanging loan of experience? Where’s that signing that’s just going to add to the dressing room, add to the depth, add to the quality, mitigate against injuries?”

That’s not the United’s only regret, either, with their failure to land a left-back also contributing massively towards their struggles this season.

“If you can’t afford it or can’t get the Lewis Halls of this world, where’s that loan, that safe bet, that person where you know you can try before you buy?

“That’s also where, for example, the Ryan Ait-Nouri talks came in around deadline day, but it turned out that Man City only wanted to sell permanently and Manchester United did prefer a loan with an option.”

Meanwhile, sources can reveal that Brighton have set a sky-high asking price to ward off Liverpool amid claims Andoni Iraola is contemplating a daring raid for the Seagulls superstar.

Over at Old Trafford, we understand that new boss Pochettino will have the final say on the signings of two USA internationals – with the first of these having already given a move a major green light.