Gary Neville has slammed Manchester United’s recruitment over the last decade, claiming only two players signed in that period have proven to be successes.
As reported in The Mirror, Neville rated 33 of United’s signings on Sky Sports, Monday Night Football, splitting them into three categories; successes, average performers and failures.
Neville concluded that 75% of players signed in the last ten years have been failures at the club, with the only two successes being Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Bruno Fernandes.
Seven players fell into the average camp; Ander Herrera, Luke Shaw, Nemanja Matic, Fred, Edinson Cavani, Cristiano Ronaldo and current club captain, Harry Maguire.
The rest, Neville believes, failed, or are failing during their time at Old Trafford – a list of players that include stellar names such as Paul Pogba, Angel di Maria, Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez and Raphael Varane.
Whilst there may be arguments to push and pull a couple around (Juan Mata and Daley Blind look particularly hard done by) the analysis is damning and highlights the failings of the United hierarchy over the last decade.
It’s also worth noting that only Daniel James has been sold for a profit from the names moved out the door.
Neville believes a major reason behind this has been the constant change in transfer strategy, depending on the manager.
“One of the problems Manchester United have had for 10 years is that they’ve flip-flopped between managers and strategies. That’s been a massive issue.”
The ex-United captain went on to state he feels this makes it more difficult to sign new players, with so many big names failing to produce.
“It’s become a graveyard for football players, this football club. Players are now even considering whether they want to come to the club; you can’t get players in.”
Neville also argued that new boss, Erik Ten Hag, is now suffering from the ineptitude of the board and faces a massive task to rebuild this squad.
“The coach is obviously a fantastic coach – he’s proven that over the last few years. However, he’s been dealt a really bad hand. To not get the players in for him that he wanted in pre-season is a shocker – an absolute shocker.”
United have just two weeks to salvage something from a transfer window that can only be described as an absolute horror show, so far.
