“It should have been a veto.”
Gary Neville has made a U-turn on Man United’s decision to sign star midfielder and admits that it “should never have happened.”
The former United defender had previously been a huge fan of Casemiro, the Brazil star that Erik ten Hag bought from Real Madrid after he had won yet another Champion’s League trophy.
Initially it seemed to be the right move because the defensive midfielder hit the ground running at Old Trafford, elevating the quality of the team immediately, however, due to his age profile and high wages, it has quickly turned sour for Casemiro.
Gary Neville admits that signing of Man United fan favourite “should never have happened”
Neville had named the Brazilian as United’s best player last year, but speaking on the latest episode of Stick to Football, the Sky Sports pundit says that the sining should never have happened.
“Coming in from an owner’s perspective, you employ a head of recruitment who you think is the best guy out there at spotting talent, that will bring value to your club.
“You’ve got a sporting director equally, who will be thinking the same way – their loyalty is to the club and to make sure we win games. A manager’s job is purely to think about the immediate short term and getting results for himself.
“Casemiro is perfect example of a short-term signing that is going to cost in the long term. That signing never should have gone through a good sporting director, a good owner, and a good head of recruitment. That signing should have never gone through, it should have been a veto.”
Neville made the point that the decision to sign players should not be in the hands solely of the manager, because they already have so much on their plate. and they often make these choices without having all of the information and facts.
“What happens is you go into a window [with] all good intentions, all on the same page thinking, ‘we need four players’, and you pick the profile of the player that you want. He’s got to be six foot, he’s got to hold the ball up, he’s got to score 10 to 15 goals.
“You’re looking for that profile and then basically what you want is your head of recruitment, your sporting director and your team of scouts to go out there and bring back three or four really good options, and they bring back those three or four options to the table.
The latest episode of Stick To Football is live! ⚽️
This week we talk all about transfers and debate who should sign players at a club.
Have a watch/listen if you like 👍https://t.co/9uedyttU8R pic.twitter.com/M1jYg4CtRX
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) January 10, 2024
“The problem is, if you don’t get those three or four because they’re not available of some kind, or the manager doesn’t like them, that’s when you end up in a spin.
“Honestly, when I look back now on reflection – obviously I’m not in it at Salford on the day to day – but from my point of view, towards the end, I was moving away from head coach, recruiting players, and being involved in the process because I knew that we’d recruited badly a couple of times in terms of just bringing players in.
“A bad recruitment window costs you for two or three years, you can’t get them out.”
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- Man United’s choice for first transfer of the Jim Ratcliffe era makes perfect sense
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