Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick believes Jose Mourinho’s swift and decisive transfer business could give the Reds an edge in these early stages of the Premier League season.

The Reds manager identified four key positions where he wanted to strengthen the squad and the club impressively wrapped up the signings of Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba before their opening match of the season against Bournemouth, reports the Manchester United website.

With other clubs still to complete their business as the August 31, deadline looms large, the 35-year-old feels United have possibly gained an advantage by signing players in such a focused manner.

‘It’s certainly been a good window with the four top players coming in,’ Carrick said.

‘I think they are all going to add hugely to the squad. For me, the key thing is it is done and dusted now and there is not going to be that speculation all the way up until the deadline.

‘Our main targets are in, it seems, and we are a squad now – this is what we’re going to go forward achieving things with.’

Carrick says has praised Mourinho’s activities during the transfer market so far, stating that complete the deal early on will make a huge difference going forward.

‘I think, in an ideal world, you want your squad ready as early as possible and settled. We’ve managed to do that and hopefully, it’s going to make a massive difference. It’s a really terrific squad in terms of quality and depth now,’ he added.

Manchester United will now welcome Southampton to Old Trafford in the Premier League on Friday.

Kick-off has been set for 21:00.