Gary Neville has insisted on a Sky Sports podcast that Tottenham ace Toby Alderweireld would have provided the answer to Manchester United’s defensive frailties.
Neville was very critical of his former club following their 3-2 Premier League defeat to Brighton on Sunday and singled out “second-fiddle centre-backs” Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof for criticism.
The United legend and former defender believes the club should have spent big in the recently-closed Premier League window on either Spurs’ Alderweireld or Leicester City’s Harry Maguire, both of whom were strongly linked with a summer move to Old Trafford.
“Whatever the club think about not wanting to invest further in centre-backs because they’ve already got five etc, doesn’t matter,” Neville told Sky Sports. “The end result is still the same. You still need a new back four, you still need new centre-backs.
“It doesn’t matter if you think you’ve spent too much money in that area, you still have to make the decision that if Toby Alderweireld or Harry Maguire are available then you’ve just got to go and get them if you are Manchester United.
“If you’ve made mistakes previously in the recruitment, which the club no doubt has in the first three or four years after Alex Ferguson left, then you have to pay for it and make sure you don’t make the mistake again.”
OPINION
It has been a hugely frustrating year – in club football, at least – so far for Alderweireld, who had barely kicked a ball in anger for Tottenham before his recall to the starting XI in Saturday’s 3-1 Premier League win against Fulham. That the Belgian completely looked the part immediately was no surprise for Spurs fans who idolise him but had given up all hope of the player staying this summer after being frozen out by Mauricio Pochettino following his return from injury in January. Alderweireld was top of United’s shopping list but they were unwilling to match the valuation of Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy and a deal fell by the wayside. It has paved the way for Alderweireld to return to the Spurs team and set about re-establishing himself as one of the outstanding defenders in the Premier League. You won’t find a Tottenham fan who isn’t happy about that, while United are forced to watch on enviously as their own centre-backs muddle on through.