Aheed Abrar
Gary Neville slams history of desperate signings at Manchester United following Marko Arnautovic links
Gary Neville is fed up with Manchester United for pursuing transfers for players like Marko Arnautovic. The former Red Devil feels the club have been bringing in strikers without any plan.
United lost to Brighton & Hove Albion in the first game of the Premier League season. Erik ten Hag fielded his side without a recognised strike. Christian Eriksen played in a false nine role in the first half against the Seagulls.
Speaking after United’s 2-1 defeat on Sky Sports (h/t The Metro), Neville ridiculed the transfer policy that the Manchester-based club have had over the years. The former United captain senses desperation in the way the club have operated.
“We’ve seen it with Falcao, Ibrahimovic, Cavani, Ighalo – these desperate, sort of experienced signings.
“We’ve seen it now for eight or 10 years, it’s a pattern, it’s happening time and time again. We don’t even get angry, we don’t even get animated about it anymore. It’s got to the point where I don’t even want to comment about it.”
Starting from Radamel Falcao in 2014, it seems United have tried to take a chance on players who have been past their prime. While Zlatan Ibrahimovic helped the club, he wasn’t the type of singing we needed.
The Red Devils have been desperate for a quality young striker. Instead, we’ve been made to watch the likes of Odion Ighalo come into the side due to a lack of options.
Edinson Cavani and Cristiano Ronaldo both are in their late 30s. They were the two options for us up front for the majority of the previous campaign.
While the 37-year-old’s performances were brilliant, he’s now angling for a move away. The Portugal international’s future is still uncertain.
We’ve made stop-gap signings without addressing the real issues. Now, United are again in need of a centre-forward. Anthony Martial picked up an injury before the opening game of the season. Ronaldo isn’t match fit as of now, having missed most of the pre-season under Erik ten Hag.
More Manchester United News
- Bologna reject bid of around £7 million from Manchester United for Marko Arnautovic
- Roy Keane: Fred and Scott McTominay ‘not good enough’ to play in midfield for Manchester United
- Manchester United captain Harry Maguire feels he needs time to form a solid partnership with Lisandro Martinez
For the majority of the summer window, the management have known United are short on numbers up front. Yet, nothing has been done to address the issue. So now, we’re going after Arnautovic, the same sort of signing that’ll have us in a similar position next year.
