FLOP better than Ronaldo for Man Utd - Gary Neville

Jacque Talbot

• Updated: 4 Apr 2023 11:03 BST
• 3 min read

Gary Neville has torn into Wout Weghorst, saying that the Manchester United striker ‘isn’t fit to lace Cristiano Ronaldo’s boot’.

The Sky Sports pundit touched on his former club’s 2-0 defeat to Newcastle on Sunday, a game in which the Dutchman looked off the pace and certainly not to the level of the superstar.

On Monday Night Football, Neville said: “I called him a placeholder because United didn't invest in a striker United would want. This experiment has to stop, Weghorst has to come out, it can no longer go on, the reason he continues to play and why Ronaldo is no longer at the club, you see his 19 starts against Ronaldo's 19 starts.

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"Weghorst has 12 wins, four draws, three defeats, he has only scored two goals but the team has scored 37 goals, with Ronaldo it was 19 starts, they won three less games, drawn three, lost four more with him in the team, he scored 11 but the team itself only scored 23, they are massive differences.

"It is the strangeness of football is having a player who isn't good enough to be a Manchester United forward but has brought more profit to the team. I believe he (Ronaldo) is the greatest player of all time.”

Weghorst compared to Ronaldo

The club legend continued:: “I think ultimately the reason he left Ronaldo out was because of the stats, I think it is clear Weghorst isn't fit to lace Ronaldo's boots but those are stark stats playing in same period with same team-mates, he was really poor on Sunday, he shouldn't be there, but the reason he is there is because of those stats.”

Man Utd bought Weghorst during the January transfer window after opting to release Ronaldo from his contract in November last year.

The Netherlands international Weghorst was acquired on a short-term loan deal and has only registered two goals in 19 appearances.

There is no indication yet as to whether Man Utd will look to buy him permanently in the summer from Burnley.