One of them a surprising name: Neville picks Manchester United's two worst signings since the Ferguson era

A Manchester United legend explains his view on the selections

Gary Neville has picked out two names as the worst Manchester United signings since the end of Sir Alex Ferguson's era, and one of them earned the title of "unwanted".

The legendary Red Devils manager left in 2013. Since then the club has struck a great many transfer deals in an attempt to recapture the success of his era.

Most of those deals ranged from disappointing to utterly catastrophic. Only a handful of the signings that followed Ferguson proved a clear success.

First to spring to Neville's mind for the worst deal of the past 13 years was Angel Di Maria, the Argentine star United signed from Real Madrid in 2014 for close to £60 million.

Di Maria spent only one season at Old Trafford, scoring four goals in 32 matches across all competitions before moving to Paris Saint-Germain.

Asked about the Red Devils' worst deal over 13 years, Neville told The Athletic: "Di Maria was a bad deal, and I was very excited about him, by the way."

He added, according to England's Metro newspaper: "I thought it was a wonderful deal. He can move from one penalty area to the other, he is fast and talented, but clearly he did not adapt, and he did not settle. All of these reasons. It was a bad deal."

Marouane Fellaini emerged as one of the runners in this particular race, but Neville would not put the Belgian in the reckoning.

"I have no problem with Fellaini," he said. "He was not supposed to sign for the club, but he is not the worst deal. He gave his all, and his value came to between £25 and £30 million, which is not a huge sum."

Factor in the cost and Neville eventually landed on his answer: a man who cost £82 million and scored 12 goals in 96 matches from the right wing.

"When you look at the huge expenditure you find Antony," he said. "This is not a criticism of the player, but rather a reflection of United's stance in paying this amount for him after they felt panic."

He wrapped up his verdict: "I say Antony and Di Maria. I have to choose Antony."