Michael Carrick has warned Manchester United that radically overhauling their squad this summer and bringing in too many new faces could backfire.
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The 2013 Premier League champions have a transfer budget in excess of 100 million pounds and are planning to react to their worst season in a quarter of a century by making several signings.
United could also lose some of their current squad, with Nemanja Vidic certain to join Inter Milan, Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra all out of contract and other players potentially surplus to requirements if their next manager, probably Louis van Gaal, brings in new recruits.
But midfielder Carrick, who has been at Old Trafford since 2006, believes it would be a mistake to cast aside too many and said it would be difficult for a lot of newcomers to gel.
He added: "It is easy to say there will be wholesale changes because obviously we haven't had a good season. If you look within the squad, there are some good players there.
"There probably needs to be some changes in some way because that is natural with the situation we are in at the moment, but you can't change too much because it is hard. Bringing players in is tough enough and we will just have to wait and see how it pans out."
Two new faces were on view in Tuesday's 3-1 win over Hull when youngsters James Wilson, who scored twice, and Tom Lawrence were given debuts by interim manager Giggs.
And Carrick added: "This club moves forward all the time and we are always trying to bring players through, groom players and develop them. You could say this is the start of something else because there are going to be changes between now and next season.
"How much change we will have to wait and see, but it is about getting strong, improving and coming back next year to fight on all fronts again. That is certainly what the aim is and we shouldn't be aiming for anything less."
Vidic made his final appearance at Old Trafford against Hull and Carrick paid tribute to the Serb, who formed a superb partnership with Ferdinand for eight years.
He said: "They were two of the best defenders in the world at their time and working together like they did it was as good as it gets. To play alongside him was a privilege for me, and it is sad to see him go."