Manchester United have three players to build a title-winning team around

Whether a manager or a player is Manchester United criteria comes down to a key question: are they title-winning material?

The answer was 'yes' when Erik ten Hag was appointed. It switched to 'no' last season and it is a more resounding 'no' now.

Scroll through the United squad and it does not have the makings of a championship challenge, never mind triumph. There are plenty of good players but hardly any are world-class. United have taken players off the hands of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain in recent years; three clubs that are serial winners.

READ MORE: Why United are ignoring the key question on Ten Hag

READ MORE: The old United is resurfacing with players' Instagram activity

There are long-serving defenders in Luke Shaw (ten years), Victor Lindelof (seven years), Diogo Dalot (six years) and Harry Maguire (five years). They have merit but they are unlikely to be central to United ending a title drought that is certain to extend to at least 13 years.

Casemiro and Christian Eriksen were league winners abroad but, at 32, no longer have the capacity to add a Premier League medal to their collection. Matthijs de Ligt had success in the Netherlands, Italy and Germany but he has been in gradual decline the past five years. United is a more unforgiving environment than Ajax, Juventus or Bayern Munich.

United pointed out that De Ligt had enjoyed success everywhere he had played at the time of his arrival. There have been umpteen examples that United is a club where successful careers become unsuccessful.

Marcus Rashford is into his ninth year in the first team and has five cups to show for it. Nobody looked at Antony's trophy haul at Ajax and expected him to be a catalyst.

Casemiro, Mason Mount and Joshua Zirkzee have all lifted the European Cup. Lisandro Martinez has got his hands on the Copa America trophy twice and the World Cup. Jonny Evans has won every domestic honour with United, as well as the Club World Cup.

There is ample winning pedigree in the squad yet the current landscape has seen opponents ride roughshod over United. Bruno Fernandes has been a brilliant player for United without coming close to wearing the Premier League crown.

When United were in transition under Sir Alex Ferguson in the mid-2000s, they had seasoned professionals approaching the twilight of their career to ease the burden on the prodigies (Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney) as they learnt the ropes. United swiftly discarded duds, improved their recruitment and regained the title in 2007.

This United are not, and cannot, be as ruthless hacking off the dead wood. Their recruitment has not improved under the Ineos umbrella. Fernandes is, usually, an inspirational leader but his form has nosedived.

Once again, the prodigies are becoming overburdened. The weary Kobbie Mainoo has started all seven Premier League games this season and Alejandro Garnacho has appeared in United's 11 fixtures.

United fans will be relieved that both withdrew from their national squads for this month's internationals. Garnacho started 38 successive games last season and was one of only two outfield United players to avoid injury. Mainoo has played 52 games since his full Premier League debut on November 26.

The 19-year-old was spotted out on a leisurely stroll in Wilmslow on Wednesday evening. Good for him. Mainoo needs a physical and mental breather away from the United maelstrom. His European Championship ended with Mainoo disconsolately leaning against the goalpost.

Garnacho went one better with Argentina at the Copa America, though he had a bit-part role in their success. Ten Hag curiously started him in only one of United's first four Premier League games but Garnacho has lined up in the past three.

It was an unscripted endorsement when Ten Hag doubled down on his contentious call to hook Marcus Rashford at half-time in Porto. Why take off your best player?

"Garnacho was my best player on Sunday by far and also in many other games," Ten Hag replied. "I think in the season as I assess it so far, he is bringing us so far the offensive threat by creating chances, assists, also scoring, Garnacho.

"We also had to play him as well and we have two very good players over that side." Garnacho never goes into hiding and his role in the chaotic draw with Porto was underrated.

There was premature speculation that Garnacho could be poached before he signed a new five-year contract last year. As a Madrid-born winger who moved to England as a teenager, a return to the Spanish capital in his mid-20s could beckon if United fail to become a credible force again in the coming years.

Garnacho and Mainoo are talents capable of transforming United into title winners. Andre Onana has also quietly settled. He kept the scoreline down against Tottenham and kept United in it at Porto.

Beyond that trio, United are suspect. Martinez is good but his career in Manchester has been beset by injury and he has had a wobble of late. It is too soon to judge Manuel Ugarte but neither of United's strikers appear to be capable starting strikers.

Are they title-winning material? No.