Both Moyes, and particularly executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, were criticised when Marouane Fellaini ended up being their only signing.

Even then, the transfer only took place when Fellaini agreed to waive around £4m in loyalty payments from Everton so United did not end up forking out more than the £23.5m clause inserted into the Belgian’s contract which Moyes allowed to expire at the end of July.

Some supporters were irritated enough to write to the Old Trafford outfit and demand answers.

And under the fans’ charter, established by the Premier League and which United adhere to, director of communications Phil Townsend wrote back to explain the club’s thinking.

“The club has always backed the manager in the transfer market, as Sir Alex (Ferguson) has said on many occasions and it will continue to do so,” said Townsend.

“The club has demonstrated its belief in, and commitment to, David Moyes through the award of a six-year contract.

“Allowing him to shape the future Manchester United team is a long-term project not an eight-week panic.

“He must be given time to assess his new squad and come to his own decisions on which players he feels will strengthen it.”

Indeed, as Townsend also pointed out, and United stressed privately immediately after the window closed, there has been a reshaping of Moyes’ squad, and two of the most immediate priorities were met.

“The club had two main priorities for the transfer window,” said Townsend.

“The first was to keep Wayne Rooney.

“He is a world-class player and the manager is very keen to have Wayne as a key part of the club’s drive to retain the Premier League trophy. That aim was fulfilled.

“The second priority was to add a midfield player, and the capture of Fellaini has met that need.

“Add to that the fact that Wilfried Zaha is a new signing and that the manager has added the highly-rated young player Adnan Januzaj to the squad and the team does in fact have a different feel to it than the one that finished last season.”

Townsend confirmed United had spent in excess of £40m this summer “more than it has traditionally spent on transfers”, a figure that includes the transfer fee for Wilfried Zaha, who remained at Crystal Palace on loan for the remainder of the previous campaign after signing for the Old Trafford club in October.

Since then they have also handed a new five-year contract to Nani and are in negotiations with a number of players over new deals, including Januzaj.

“Additional resources were there to add to that but it was not possible to agree with other clubs for the right players to leave,” said Townsend.

“The key point there is that the players we buy have to be the right ones for Manchester United; not just any player.

“It is worth pointing out that many of the players the club was associated with during the window had never figured in David Moyes’ plans and the name of Manchester United was being used by others to inflate players’ values or raise the profile of their availability.”