Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
James Findlater & Stephen Killen

Gary Neville makes rare admission after learning of Manchester United bid for Marko Arnautovic

Gary Neville was rendered speechless as he was asked about Manchester United’s pursuit of Marko Arnautovic.

United have made an €8million bid for the Bologna forward as they look to add to their forward options. The Reds’ lack of firepower was exposed in their opening day defeat to Brighton as Erik ten Hag opted to play Christian Eriksen as a false nine, with Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench and Anthony Martial injured.

The move for Arnautovic though has been met with ridicule on most fronts, with United fans far from happy. The former Stoke and West Ham forward is seen by United as a short-term option to support the starting forwards.

ALSO READ: Manchester United have already confirmed their stance on Marko Arnautovic and Adrien Rabiot

At 33 though, the Austria international is unlikely to be anything other than a short-term option. It continues a trend at Old Trafford which has seen the club sign a string of older forwards in recent years, including Odion Ighalo, Edinson Cavani and Ronaldo.

The move for Arnautovic will no doubt prove especially underwhelming for United fans, having already seen the club miss out on Erling Haaland, while also passing up the opportunity to sign Darwin Nunez. And following on from a disastrous 12 months at the club, Neville had little else to say on the situation despite admitting he normally has "a comment on everything in the world".

“I don’t know, I have no comment,” Neville told Sky Sports when asked about United’s approach for Arnautovic. “I’ve got a comment on everything in the world apart from Man United trying to sign Marko Arnautovic, I’ve got nothing to say.

“Falcao, Ibrahimovic, Cavani, Ighalo. We’ve seen it now for eight, 10 years. It’s a pattern, it happens time and time again, we don’t get angry or animated about it anymore. It’s got to the point where I don’t even want to talk about it anymore.”

Former United captain Roy Keane, though, had more to say. “Who’s making these decisions?” he said.

“Who’s making the decisions on which players come in? Talking about Darren Fletcher, John Murtough, you’re talking about a new chief executive, there’s talks of bringing Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill back to the club. My goodness, what’s going on?”

READ NEXT:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.