Paul Merson brazenly suggests former Manchester United star should lead recruitment at Old Trafford

Paul Merson has brazenly suggested that Gary Neville should oversee the recruitment of players at Manchester United.

Gary Neville, who is better suited to punditry than football management, is part of the Task Force for the Old Trafford regeneration project. It’s something he – and most United fans – are very passionate about.

But to suggest Neville should be head of recruitment at United is baffling at best. I bet he’d say the same even if he thinks he would’ve done a better job than those who came before Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox.

United have spent big on the likes of Antony, Casemiro and Rasmus Hojlund in recent transfers but have not benefitted from those additions in terms of results on the pitch.

Approximately £206 million was spent on new recruits in the summer as Manuel Ugarte, Joshua Zirkze, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui all joined the club.

Paul Merson backs Gary Neville to lead recruitment at Manchester United

“I would have put someone like Gary Neville in charge of the recruitment,” Merson told Sky Sports.

“Gary has been at that club all his career and he knows football 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 bild this club, what players should we be bringing in?’”

Neville was attending meetings at Old Trafford this week regarding stadium development. Joel Glazer was also spotted as he met face-to-face with fans at the Fans Advisory Board meeting.