Neville slams SHOCKING Man Utd recruitment

Cameron Smith

9 Mar 2025 11:00 CDT
3 min read

Gary Neville has once again taken aim at Manchester United's ownership group following their “poor recruitment” in recent years.

The Red Devils have spent over €2 billion on new signings since their last Premier League title in 2013 and they are currently languishing down in 15th place in the English top flight table following a woeful run of results this campaign.

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Antony, Casemiro, Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund are among the big-money signings to have failed to impress since arriving at Old Trafford over the past few seasons, while Bruno Fernandes is one of very few undoubtedly successful transfers since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson.

In addition, INEOS have overseen hundreds of job redundancies in recent months and fan unrest is arguably at an all-time high.

Ahead of Man Utd’s clash against Arsenal on Sunday afternoon, Neville took aim at the club’s extremely poor recruitment record in a bid to explain their current woes.

© IMAGO - Mason Mount has struggled since joining Man Utd

What has Gary Neville said?

“A few years ago, United had a team that had [Romelu] Lukaku and [Paul] Pogba and Alexis Sanchez and [Angel] Di Maria. I thought they had fantastic talent and were capable of destroying teams on the day,” Neville told Sky Sports.

“My worry with this group of players, as I look around this dressing room, is they are nowhere near the calibre of players that have failed Manchester United in the last 10 years.

“I say that with some level of kindness. It’s not the most kind thing to say. I genuinely look around this dressing room and I think to myself, how has this club ended up in a position whereby it has recruited, as Ruben Amorim called it - I’ll quote Ruben Amorim - the worst Manchester United team in history?

“I think that when you see that Manchester United have gone from the richest football club in the world to not being able to feed their own staff - that is a massive demise,” Neville added.

“And what’s hitting now on the pitch is hitting off the pitch as well. The debt, the poor recruitment, the lack of ability to find a performance. They’re now 15th in the league, which I never thought I’d see - Manchester United 15th in the league in March.

“So there’s not a lot to look upon other than the fact that the manager does retain an element of optimism, and you hope that he can be supported and get it right for next season. But this season’s a bit of a write-off.”