Gary Neville admits giving Man Utd targets "bad advice" over transfers

15 January 2024 , 07:05

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Gary Neville admits giving Man Utd targets "bad advice" over transfers

Gary Neville admits he's given "pretty poor advice" by suggesting to players they should make the move to Manchester United.

The Sky Sports pundit spent his entire career at Old Trafford and played during a trophy-laden era under one manager. He retired just two years before Sir Alex Ferguson did in 2013 with United enduring a major decline since. Huge sums have been spent in an effort to recreate the success of yesteryear.

Numerous players have failed to hit the heights expected after moving to Manchester with Neville conceding that Old Trafford has become a "graveyard" for players and admits he's wrongly urged individuals to make the move to the club.

Neville said on Sky Sports: "I have spoken to players before they come here saying, 'You'll never regret it, it's a magic football club'. Looking back that's pretty poor advice."

United have signed the likes of Paul Pogba, Harry Maguire and Alexis Sanchez over the past decade. All of them were successes at their previous clubs and moved for big fees and wages, but were unable to replicate the form they showed previously.

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One man to turn down a switch to Manchester was Jude Bellingham, who opted for Borussia Dortmund when he chose to leave Birmingham City. He thrived and is now one of Europe's top performers at Real Madrid and Neville admits even the midfield sensation may have struggled at United due to their long-term issues.

Jude Bellingham is among those to reject a move to Manchester (Soeren Stache/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

"Other players who have chosen other clubs have gone on to be really successful," he added. "You think of Jude Bellingham, he walks into the boardroom here, Manchester United have agreed a fee with Birmingham and so have Dortmund and he has a choice between them and somehow, well done to him, he chose Dortmund and is now one of the greatest players in the world and greatest English talents.

"What would have happened if he came here? I don't know, maybe he would be a success, but I'm not so sure because of the culture."

Neville has admitted to phoning up those at United during hid brief stint in Valencia, where he worked with a young Joao Cancelo, who was a huge success at Manchester City before leaving.

"I had him as a very young player at Valencia but you could just see exceptional talent," he said previously. "I made calls back to England, you could imagine to which club I’m talking about, [saying], 'If you’d ever take a young player, he’s one you’d take'."

Samuel Meade