Mauricio Pochettino sent Man Utd transfer plea

Manchester United legend Gary Neville has urged Mauricio Pochettino to demand the signing of two new defenders during the upcoming January transfer window.

The 54-year-old has reportedly signed his contract to become the new Man Utd boss, following the sacking of Michael Carrick earlier this week, and he will take charge of his first match at Old Trafford against fierce rivals Liverpool on 22 November.

Eddie Howe, Antonio Conte, Unai Emery and Julian Nagelsmann were all heavily linked with replacing Carrick at Man Utd, but Pochettino quickly emerged as the frontrunner for the job, and the Red Devils hierarchy have now agreed a deal with the USMNT.

The former Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea boss will take charge of the USA’s Nations League quarter-final tie against Haiti before officially starting duties at Old Trafford next week, and he will be tasked with guiding Man Utd out of the relegation zone upon his arrival at the club.

The Red Devils have only won one of their opening 10 Premier League matches this season, and they sit 18th in the English top flight table, having picked up just eight points.

Man Utd strengthened their first-team squad with the additions of Carlos Baleba, Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans over the summer, but Neville has urged Pochettino to request two new defenders during his first transfer window in charge.

“If I were Mauricio Pochettino now, I would literally be protecting myself to the high heaven,” Neville told The Overlap.

“He’ll do that with the payoff. But secondly, he needs two defenders in January. So he’s got to insist that he gets two defenders in January.

“He’s got to insist that he gets a minimum budget next summer for the transfer window to be able to turn this around.”

Neville continued: “He’s got to insist that he gets a budget the following season. “He’s got to literally insist. They have to give it to him, otherwise he shouldn’t take the job.

“With that defence - and that midfield by the way, that midfield’s had some money spent on it - he’s got to insist on the way in that there’s some form of transfer control, that there’s some form of budget there that he knows he can meaningfully change the team.

“I don’t think Mauricio is the type of manager either that would say ‘give me half a billion’. I don’t think he is that type of guy. I think he’s someone a bit more responsible and will look at things, and he’ll want to bring players through, and he’ll want to develop young players.

“I just think he needs to protect himself in the next 12 months with the transfer budget.

“The only time you can insist upon it is at the very beginning. They need two defenders in January - because if they have [Patrick] Dorgu at left-back, [Noussair] Mazaroui at right-back, and [Ayden] Heaven and [Leny] Yoro at centre-back, he will need to do a hell of a lot of coaching to get them up the league.”