Gary Neville and Roy Keane clashed when discussing Manchester United’s chances of winning the Premier League after disagreeing over Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s future.
The Red Devils look set to mount a serious challenge for the title along with Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea after strengthening their squad with two key signings.
Jadon Sancho arrived in a £73million move from Borussia Dortmund shortly after Euro 2020 finished, while Raphael Varane’s switch from Real Madrid is only lacking an official announcement.
In landing his top two targets, Solskjaer has spoken of his confidence that his side are ready to end their eight-year wait to add to their 20 league titles.
The quality of the Norwegian’s squad was a hot topic of conversation as Neville and Keane assessed the level of depth at Solskjaer’s disposal.
The pair have an abundance of experience in knowing what it takes to win titles, winning five in their time together under Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford. But when it came to judging the quality of the current crop of players, the United legends were not on the same wavelength.
"I don't think Lingard is going to get Man Utd challenging for titles,” Keane said, speaking on The Overlap.
"Jesse has done well at West Ham and maybe they're a good fit for him. But if you're asking me do I think Lingard will get Man Utd winning titles, the answer is no — and I'll say the same for Fred and maybe [Scott] McTominay.
"I think McTominay is a good young player, I'd persevere with him. But the proof is in the pudding — I see Fred every week and I can't see it, but Ole likes him and he's the manager.”
Will Manchester United win the Premier League title in 2021-22? Let us know in the comments section below.
The debate between the two men heated up when Keane ventured into Neville’s territory, calling into question full-back Wan-Bissaka’s ability.
”I think the right-back is probably not good enough,” the Irishman said of the ex-Crystal Palace star.
“Now these are good players, but if you're talking about winning league titles, then they've come up short. They've not been close to winning.
"Man Utd, to me, need someone in midfield, but they'll have to shift players. The problem with that is they're on huge money.”
As a right-back himself, former United defender Neville put up a stern defence of Wan-Bissaka, who missed only four games last season at right-back and scored twice.
"I think the right-back is okay — I know we disagree on that,” he said.
Keane challenged Neville’s comment, replying: "Gary, okay… ‘okay’ is not good enough. ‘Okay’ is fine, but we're talking about winning league titles."
Neville refused to accept that the English defender was not adequate enough to play a regular part in United’s expected title challenge and insisted Solskjaer’s backline needed no improvement.
"I'm comfortable with Wan-Bissaka, the reason is, we've got a great left-back and two excellent centre-backs now in Maguire and Varane.
“To be fair, we have one defensive player who is imperfect. Not world-class.
"I think Wan-Bissaka is improving, I think he's a good defender. I think with Sancho outside him, I wouldn't be changing him too quickly.”
United begin their Premier League campaign when they host Leeds United at Old Trafford on Saturday lunchtime.
