The Red Devils legend slams a decade of recruitment failures, singling out two high-priced flops who epitomize the club’s costly decline since the iconic manager’s departure.
Sir Alex Ferguson ended his era-defining tenure at Old Trafford after the 2012-13 Premier League season, adding a 20th league title to Manchester United's trophy cabinet.
Since then, United have seen a steep downturn in success after the Scottish manager left the club, winning just seven pieces of silverware in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, while Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal have leapfrogged the Reds in recent years.
Including caretaker and interim managers, United have had 12 dugout changes since the 2012/13 season, with Ole Gunnar Solskjær the longest-serving manager in that period, overseeing 168 games and leading United to a second-place finish in the league.
Unfortunately for the Reds, a second-place finish is the highest league finish the club has achieved since Ferguson's departure, with the Norwegian former United striker in 2020-21 and Jose Mourinho in 2017-18. On both occasions, the club were beaten to the title by Manchester City, though the repercussions of the club's recent guilty verdict from the Premier League are yet to be known.
Gary Neville names Man Utd's worst post-Ferguson signing
Though Manchester United's managerial appointments post-Ferguson have been mixed, one factor that has been a persistent negative since 2013 has been the club's poor transfer business.
The club has spent over £2.1 billion since Sir Alex Ferguson left, losing only to Manchester City and Chelsea. The main difference between United and the other two clubs is how poor the Reds have been in player sales over that same period. United have made £532 million in sales, while City and Chelsea have made £827 million and £1.42 billion, respectively.
Speaking to The Athletic, Gary Neville named who he believes is Manchester United's worst signing since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club.
"Di Maria was a bad one and I was so excited about him, by the way.
“I thought that was an amazing signing. Can get from box to box, he’s quick, quality and then obviously he just didn’t adapt, didn’t settle. All those reasons. That was a bad one.”
“When you’re looking at massive outlays, Antony. This is not a criticism of the boy, it’s reflective of United that he paid that money for him after panicking.
“I would say Antony and Di Maria. I’d have to say Antony.”
How Man Utd's transfer strategy has changed
INEOS officially took charge of Manchester United on February 20 2024, when Sir Jim Ratcliffe's United deal for a minority stake was officially completed.
While INEOS faces backlash at the moment over both on- and off-pitch issues, it certainly played a major role in changing the club's transfer policy.
United's shift to focusing on Premier League-proven players has been positive, with the signings of Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha, and Youri Tielemans paying off, while adding promising talents such as Senne Lammens, Benjamin Šeško, and Ayden Heaven has set the club up for a positive future.
While whether the transfer strategy of reinforcing one area of the pitch each summer will be a success remains to be seen, and there is also criticism that can be levied against the board for perhaps a lack of reinforcements last summer, United's transfer strategy in recent seasons has certainly been much more successful in the years after Sir Alex Ferguson left the club.
