Paul Merson calls on Man Utd to appoint legendary duo as head of recruitment after hammering £80m signing

Paul Merson has called on Manchester United to turn to two club legends to help aid their poor transfer recruitment, while also hammering one Old Trafford deal in particular.

Arsenal legend Merson has not been at all impressed with United’s recruitment in recent times, despite the significant change after Sir Jim Ratcliffe oversaw the development of a new football operations department.

Dan Ashworth is now the main man tasked with bringing fresh talent to Old Trafford, but Merson has urged the club to bring in club legends Gary Neville or Rio Ferdinand, or even both, to help avoid some of the poor decisions that have been made in recent windows – most notably the £80million signing of winger Antony.

“There must have been a plan at the start of the season,” Merson told Sky Sports when asked about the uncertainty at the club and the ongoing scrutiny surrounding Erik ten Hag’s future.

“Maybe they’re looking at it like a five-year project. United aren’t going to catch City and Arsenal in a year so they have to be patient. It’s going to take time, United need to start walking again never mind running.

“The one thing that worries me is who has come into that club and looks like a success? I mean, Antony was £80m.

‘Have you picked yourself up yet or have you fallen over? I thought you’d fall over when I said Antony was £80m! That just sums it all up. I just don’t know what they’ve done with some of these transfers. I would have put someone like Gary Neville in charge of the recruitment.

“Gary has been at that club all his career, and he knows football from the inside out. You put someone like him in charge, even Rio Ferdinand, someone like that or even both of them together, and you go ‘right, we want to build this club – what players should we be bringing in?'”.

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Merson still gobsmacked at Antony fee

Merson is particularly baffled as to why United opted to spend so much money on Antony when he arrived from Ajax in 2022, having played under Ten Hag in Holland.

The 24-year-old has failed to replicate his best form for the Red Devils, finding himself out of the team more often than not this season and Merson has questioned who sanctioned the deal, claiming he would not be worth £40m if he was sold today.

He added: “The players that have come in… £80m for Antony, who sanctioned that?! I don’t want to be horrible but I watched him in Holland. He goes down the wing and he cuts inside, he did it every week in Holland.

“In the Premier League almost every single full-back is an international player and they work you out. £80m, you can’t even swallow that and get £40m for him because you won’t even get that.”

As TEAMtalk understands it, United are interested in selling Antony in January but only they recoup a fee that does not end up resulting in a massive loss.

Latest Man Utd transfer news

United are reportedly weighing up whether to activate the buy-back clause in the contract of Benfica defender Alvaro Fernandez Carreras, and Real Madrid and Barcelona are both hovering if the Red Devils hesitate.

Man Utd loaned Fernandez to Benfica in the January window of 2024. The deal contained an option to buy worth €6m which the Portuguese side activated at the beginning of the summer.

Fernandez has shone with Benfica this term, beating out Jan-Niklas Beste to become the club’s regular starter at left-back. And in lieu of his superb form, Portuguese outlet O Jogo claims Man Utd are already considering activating their buy-back clause.

Meanwhile, TT can reveal that United have told Harry Maguire what he must do to earn a new contract, with his current deal set to expire at the end of the season.

IN FOCUS – Ranking Ten Hag signings from worst to best

Given the severe criticism of United’s transfer business in recent times – now highlighted even further by Merson’s comments – TT has rated Ten Hag’s signings from worst to best since his arrival in the summer of 2022.

It will come as no great surprise to see Antony at the bottom of the pile but it’s certainly an interesting list and one that might throw up the odd surprise. Check out all the names from Nathan Egerton‘s piece right here…

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