Gary Neville blasts Manchester United over transfer inactivity and player ‘abuse’

Gary Neville has been left frustrated at the lack of transfer activity at Manchester United this summer.
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Gary Neville has let loose on another rant at Manchester United after their disappointing 2-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion on their opening day of the season.

The Red Devils’ first starting line-up of the campaign included new signings Lisandro Martinez and Christian Eriksen, while Tyrell Malacia started from the bench.

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The trio are the only three arrivals Erik ten Hag has brought in this summer - almost two months into the transfer window - and Gary Neville has expressed his unhappiness at their inactivity.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Neville said: “I am certainly not going to have a go at the coach.

“He needs time, lots of time. I have actually got to the point where I am not even going to have a go at the players anymore because if you have got a business and the people who are actually working in that business can’t do the job for you, then you remove them from those jobs.

“It’s actually abuse to keep them doing those jobs for longer because to be fair they don’t enjoy it either. The reality of it is that those players either need replacing or supporting.

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“They knew six months ago, eight months ago, 12 months ago that there needed to be investment this summer. All those players who were leaving like [Juan] Mata, [Nemanja] Matic and other ones that left, they knew they had a problem with [Anthony] Martial not being someone who has been fancied in the past.

“Cristiano [Ronaldo] coming to the end, [Edinson] Cavani leaving, obviously the situation with [Mason] Greenwood not being at the club anymore, these things have been known for a long time so it’s not as if it has just hit them now.”

United faced a huge overhaul when they saw five first team players including Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic leave the club, as well as another three departing on loan.

However, they have spent most of the summer chasing Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong in a deal that looks very unlikely, while failing to land many of their main targets.

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Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s future is still up in the air and they have been left sparce in multiple areas including attack.

One shock name they have been linked with this week is former West Ham and Stoke City forward Marko Arnautovic.

The striker scored 21 goals in the Premier League for the Irons across two seasons, however he is now 33 years old and has placed in China and Italy since leaving England.

Neville wasn’t keen to talk about their reported pursuit of the veteran and when asked on his thoughts he said: “I don’t know.

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“I have no comment on it. I have got a comment on everything in the world apart from Manchester United signing Marko Arnautovic today, I have got nothing to say.”

Manchester United face a trip to Brentford in their next Premier League match this weekend, though they could see Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot arrive before then, after agreeing a £15 million fee with the Italian club.