Gary Neville amazed by Man Utd and Liverpool transfer strategy and sends message to INEOS and FSG
Gary Neville says he is “amazed” that Manchester United have not strengthened their defence for the 2026-27 campaign – and has said similar things about Premier League rivals Liverpool.
So far this summer, Man Utd have spent more than £150million on midfielders Carlos Baleba, Andrey Santos, and Youri Tielemans. Last summer, they spent more than that to land striker Benjamin Sesko, forward Matheus Cunha, and winger Bryan Mbeumo.
Meanwhile, bitter rivals Liverpool have signed centre-back Jeremy Jacquet, winger Victor Munoz, and defender Ronald Araujo has joined on loan from Barcelona this summer.
Bradley Barcola is set to join Andoni Iraola’s team from Paris Saint-Germain for around £120m but questions are being levelled at FSG over the business they have not done this summer.
Indeed, the Merseyside outfit’s midfield looks vulnerable and it could be argued that the full-backs of Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong are too attack-minded, rather than being defensively solid.
With the Red Devils, they have been chasing Newcastle United’s Lewis Hall for much of the summer but their efforts to sign the left-back have been fruitless.
With just two days left of the summer transfer window to go, Man Utd legend Neville has given his thoughts on what areas both clubs need to strengthen before the 11pm deadline on 1 September.
Gary Neville left ‘surprised’ by Man Utd and Liverpool’s transfer strategy
He said on Sky Sports, “In a perfect world, if you’d said to Michael Carrick, ‘what would you have done this summer?’. He would have said, ‘rebuild the midfield, and I would rebuild the defence’.
“But, to be fair, last season, they’ve spent, whatever it is, £170m on attackers. They’ve spent £150m this year on midfielders. They’re doing it piece by piece. That might be the sensible thing to do, to not overhaul everything at once.
“They have got some individually decent defenders, but there isn’t a back four there and when it starts to get put under pressure and it starts to pick up a couple of injuries during the season, it will let you down. Michael knows that right now.
“If they could get a centre-back and a full-back before the window closes, that will stop problems that we know we’re going to see. I’m not saying they’ve been bad all the time, but you just know full well, in Champions League football, Premier League games, they will have problems and they will have issues. It’s not being harsh. Everybody knows it.
“I’m amazed that United haven’t added at the back. I’m amazed that Liverpool haven’t added two full-backs because they need two full-backs. Arsenal are strengthening when they’re absolutely at the top. Manchester United and Liverpool aren’t in that position. So I’m surprised at the windows these two great clubs have had.”
For Man Utd, Lisandro Martinez is quite injury-prone, and fellow centre-back Matthijs de Ligt is out with a back injury and while Luke Shaw can still be a quality operator, he is not as mobile as he once was at left-back.
Ergo, the Red Devils could do with some defensive reinforcements, especially as they prepare for their return to the Champions League this season.
