16 January 2024 , 00:04
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Gary Nevile has admitted he regrets convincing players to join Manchester United due to the current state of the team.
United sit seventh in the Premier League, 13 points adrift of leaders Liverpool, having already been knocked out of the Champions League and Carabao Cup. The FA Cup will likely be the only chance for the Red Devils to win silverware this season after finishing rock bottom of their Champions League group.
It has been a dismal second campaign in charge for Erik ten Hag, who has spent heavily in the three transfer windows he has overseen. Despite their substantial spending, United are further than ever from challenging for the league title, which they last won in 2013.
Awful failures in the transfer market have been at the heart of their dreadful decade since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement as manager. And Neville has now conceded that he feels sorry for the players who he convinced to move to Old Trafford.
"I’ve spoken to a couple of players before they’ve come here and said: 'You’ll never regret it, it’s a magic football club.' But I have to say, looking back it looks like really poor advice by what’s happened to them since they’ve come," he told Sky Sports.
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"It’s really sad because they would have thrived at other clubs, and other players who chose other clubs have gone on to be really successful. You think of Jude Bellingham and I think of that a lot, when he walked into the boardroom here at Manchester United.
"Manchester United agreed a fee with Birmingham and so have Dortmund, and he has a choice between Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United. And somehow that kid – well done to him – chose Borussia Dortmund.
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United have endured a dismal second season under Erik ten Hag (Getty Images)"And he’s now one of the greatest players in the world and one of the greatest English talents. What would have happened to him if he had come here? I don’t know, maybe he would have been a success because he’s that good, but I’m not so sure in the current environment and culture with what’s been happening."
United's football operations are set to be taken over by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, with the billionaire close to completing his deal for a 25 percent stake in the club. And Neville has urged the Brit and his representative Dave Brailsford to bring about a cultural reset at Old Trafford.
"It definitely needs one, over the last ten years it’s deteriorated so rapidly that even people like Ralf Rangnick noticed it and he was here for a few months. It’s in need of open heart surgery, or at least a defibrillator," Neville added.
"There’s a lot to do but it needs a shock, it’s got a far better chance now without disruption in the boardroom. Jim Ratcliffe is a billionaire, he’s a serious businessman and he won’t stand for anything that’s been going on in there, in the system there.
"There’s definitely a capability thing about the players that have been signed over the last 10 years but I also think there have been many good and great players that have signed over that period that have failed. It’s become a bit of a graveyard.
"Jim Ratcliffe has to come in and be disruptive, be as disruptive as he can. He has to rip it up, there are obvious starting points - there’s no CEO, no sporting director and no head of recruitment. If he fixes those three issues and gets brilliant minds in there right away, it’ll trickle down and sort the rest of it out."