Gary Neville says Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United should never have signed Casemiro.
The January transfer window is open and it’s another chance for teams to either continue their train of making abject signings or continue to add more quality players to their squad.
For Manchester United, they clearly, as proven by their recent history, fall into the former because not many of their signings can hold their heads up high.
Despite winning the League Cup in his first season, there are some who even question the Casemiro capture following his move from Real Madrid.
That includes Gary Neville who says ‘that signing should never have gone through a good sporting director’, as he told The Overlap.
Manchester United paid Real Madrid £70 million for the then-30-year-old, who won five European Cups during his time at the Bernabeu.
Yes, there have been some strong performances from the Brazil international during his time at Old Trafford, but he hasn’t exactly set the world alight.
If Gary Neville was in the Manchester United boardroom, he made it clear that a player like Casemiro wouldn’t have arrived under his watch because of the wages and how there is no long-term benefit.
Casemiro at Manchester United
“You say the manager should have the final say and he should sign the players,” said Neville. “Are we in agreement should Erik ten Hag should sign the players?
On why Neville thinks it shouldn’t be the manager who has a final say on transfers: “I am coming at it from an owners perspective. You employ a head of recruitment who you think is the best guy out there at spotting players and talent who will bring value to the club. You have a sporting director who will be thinking the same way. Their loyalty is to the club. But also a loyalty to win games, so we are aligned.
“A manager’s job is to purely think about the immediate short-term and getting results for themselves, i.e. Casemiro as an example. Perfect example of a short-term signing that’s going to cost in the long-term.
“That signing should never have gone through a good sporting director, owner or head of recruitment. That should never have gone through that signing, in my opinion. That should be vetoed. Bang! He doesn’t fit the long-term. The wages are crazy and the length of the contract is crazy.”
Manchester United need Casemiro back
As of this current moment, ten Hag needs the defensive-minded midfielder back on the pitch because Man United’s indifferent form just continues.
After the drama of coming from 2-0 down to beat Aston Villa, it was a firm and deserved defeat to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League that followed, but they progressed in the FA Cup recently.
Casemiro hasn’t played since November and, just for depth and added quality, ten Hag needs him back in action.
Whilst someone like Neville would never have signed the player, at the end of the day, he is still 31 and should still be able to offer plenty more to the team, so he has a chance to shut his critics up.
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