Manchester United Have Spent £1.25 Billion And Made Two Good Signings Since 2013

Gary Neville has claimed that Manchester United have only made two good signings since 2013 despite spending more than one billion pounds on transfer fees.

Former United captain Neville explored United's recent transfer history on Monday Night Football this week.

He and ex-Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher sorted 33 major signings into groups using a color-coded system.

Explaining the criteria, Neville said: "£1.25 billion has been spent and we categorized them into green - have they provided value for money? Have they performed for the club?

"[Amber]: Have they done okay and provided okay value?

"[Red]: Or have they been poor value and not performed? Or one of the two."

The only two players that Neville and Carragher decided had proven themselves worthy of green status were Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Bruno Fernandes.

Ibrahimovic joined United on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain in 2016 and scored 29 goals in 53 games, winning the Community Shield, EFL Cup and Europa League along the way.

Fernandes arrived in January 2020 from Sporting Lisbon for an initial fee of £46.6m, potentially rising to £68m with add-ons, as reported by Sky Sports.

He has since provided 36 goals and 25 assists in 89 Premier League appearances.

Neville added: "We think that there are only two signings at this moment in time that you could say have been good value and have performed at a [good] level.

"And to be fair, Fernandes has gone off the boil a little bit but, because of the numbers that he hit in the last couple of seasons, you'd have to say that's worked.

"Ibrahimovic, obviously, he worked."

Zlatan Ibrahimovic pictured celebrating after scoring for Manchester United in the 2017 EFL Cup final

IMAGO/Sportimage/David Klein

Cristiano Ronaldo was placed in the amber category despite being United's top scorer last season with 24 goals after rejoining from Juventus in August 2021.

Explaining his decision, Neville said: "Cristiano Ronaldo I think would have been a green on last season but what's happened in the last month, in terms of the fact he wants to leave and the confusion over him, it's a nightmare scenario for the club now, the stories that are happening.

"That has to make him an amber because it's not working."

Summarizing, Neville said: "75% have not worked, 20% are amber, only 4% or 5% have worked. That's a horror show from a recruitment point of view. 

"I know that there's a big call for blaming the players and we've blamed the players a lot. I was excited about a lot of those signings, even last year with [Jadon] Sancho, [Raphael] Varane and Ronaldo – great signings. When [Angel] Di Maria came, we thought, 'this will be a [great] signing.'

"But it's become a graveyard for football players, this football club. Players are now even considering whether they want to come to the club. You can't get players in."

Gary Neville pictured working for Sky Sports

IMAGO/Jacques Feeney