Gary Neville is stunned by Manchester United’s decision not to strengthen their defence ahead of transfer deadline day.
United have made it a priority to bolster Michael Carrick’s midfield options this summer after the departure of Casemiro and a long-term injury to Manuel Ugarte.
Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos arrived earlier in the summer, with Carlos Baleba the latest to join from Brighton last week.
Elsewhere, the Red Devils have signed Karl Darlow as a backup goalkeeper, while the young trio Cristian Orozco, Kit Margetson, and Tynan Thompson have also joined as promising talents for the future.
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Despite those incomings, there still appears to be a lack of depth in United’s squad, particularly as they prepare to compete in the Champions League again this season.
Luke Shaw, who started every league match for United last season, remains the club’s only senior left-back despite his chequered injury history.
Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez, United’s first-choice centre-back pairing, have also had injury issues in previous seasons, with only Ayden Heaven and Leny Yoro as cover.
And while midfield was the clear priority this window, Neville admits he is ‘shocked’ the club have not made it a greater priority to add a versatile defender to their ranks before Tuesday’s deadline.
‘I know they’ve done it in quite a measured fashion: the forward line last year, the midfield this summer, but I do feel that when you go into the Champions League and you’ve got an uncertain defence in the sense that a couple of them are injury-prone and they’re likely to get injured,’ he said on The Gary Neville Podcast.
‘I always think pessimistically… I always imagine if you’ve lost two defenders, what are you like you know what’s your strength in depth like?
‘And I think that for the top clubs that are playing in the Champions League, you’ve got to imagine what happens if Luke Shaw gets injured? That’s going to cause a real problem.
‘What happens if Harry Maguire gets injured? You’ve got a real problem. So I always imagine: just take your two most dominant defenders out for two months simultaneously, which can happen, and you’re playing Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, you’re going to concede goals, and you’re going to lose football matches.’
Neville continued: ‘So I just would have liked to have seen Manchester United bring in a left back and a centre-back to advance the money from next season’s budget into this season and just make sure Michael Carrick is covered.
‘Because he would have a real problem if he was playing with Heaven and Yoro at centre-back or Yoro at right back or Mazraoui at left back for a long time; it’d be a problem.
‘So I’ve said quite simply that I think that it would have been sensible to strengthen that back line this summer just with one or two, maybe not the four that is needed, but just one or two to make sure they don’t get left short.
‘So it’s not ideal. I’m shocked that Manchester United haven’t put at least one defender in. It would be perfect if they could find a left-sided centre-back that could play left back, but those players don’t tend to exist as much anymore.
‘Somebody like that would have been perfect, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. There’s no real noise coming out of Old Trafford.’
Lewis Hall has been a long-term target for United throughout the summer, but Newcastle United are reluctant to sell this late in the window and would reportedly demand a fee of around £75million.
Speaking about United’s transfer plans after their 5-2 win over Ipswich Town on Sunday, Carrick said: ‘It’s always difficult to say, to be honest, when there’s so little time left.
‘I think the situation that we’re in, I think the business that we’ve managed to do, I’m pleased with. I think we’re a better group, a better squad, potentially a better team, you know. Adding Marcus [Rashford] into that feels like a new signing.
‘So, in that respect, we’re quite happy. We’re always open to if there’s something else to be able to add, so I wouldn’t shut that down, but as it stands, we’ll have to wait and see.’
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