Manchester United’s recruitment in recent times has been “unforgiveable”, says Gary Neville, with mismanagement at board level leaving the Reds Devils in a “mess” despite boasting the “second-highest wage bill in the world”.
Those at Old Trafford have continued to spend big across recent transfer windows, but little value has been found in said deals, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looking to tweak the mindset slightly as more emphasis is placed on promising talent.
He will need further support from those above him if a long-term rebuilding project is to prove successful.
The United board have not always delivered on expectations, with a number of former stars quick to pick holes in their efforts.
Neville has been outspoken in his criticism and reiterated that those behind the scenes need to be bringing much more to the table in a sporting sense.
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And he former Red Devils defender seemed to take a swipe at executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward when he told his podcast for Sky Sports on the back of a 2-0 defeat for Solskjaer’s side against arch-rivals Liverpool: “I can’t believe the investment that’s been put into the squad in the last five, six, seven years and you end up with that out on the pitch.
“I saw a statistic two weeks ago that United have the second-highest wage bill in the world. And that’s the squad they’ve got. It’s unforgivable. It really is.
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“I can’t change the ownership of Manchester United, no one can.
“But I’m struggling to understand why the ownership have persisted in trusting that management team to oversee the building of a Premier League title-winning team since Sir Alex Ferguson left.
“Because if you don’t lose your job for essentially overseeing that investment, that wage bill, and putting that team out on the pitch then I have to say something is really wrong.
“There’s real talent in that executive team, they can create revenue, they can do things within the football club that can help to be fair.
“But in terms of what the club needed to do for a number of years now is put the best in class football operators into that club and they’re not doing it.
“They’re not doing it and it’s a mess. They need to sort it out and quickly.”
The Glazer family continue to call the shots at Old Trafford despite fierce opposition to their ongoing presence and regular rounds of speculation regarding potential interest in big-money takeovers.
American owners have run up huge debts during their time in Manchester and will need to take more money from the pot if United are to make the kind of investment that a loyal fan base is crying out for.
