Gary Neville names worst Manchester United signing since Sir Alex Ferguson era

Gary Neville has picked out two names as the worst Manchester United signings since the Sir Alex Ferguson era, ultimately giving one of them the unwanted label.

The legendary Red Devils manager left in 2013 and there has been a lot of transfer business since then as the club has tried to rediscover the success of his reign.

Plenty of that business has been somewhere between underwhelming and outright disastrous, with very few post-Ferguson signings being clear hits.

Neville’s first thought on the worst arrival of the last 13 years was Angel Di Maria, the Argentina superstar who was signed from Real Madrid in 2014 for just short of £60 million.

There was great hope for the man who would go on to win 145 caps for Argentina, but he spent just one season at Old Trafford, scoring four goals in 32 appearances across all competitions and left for Paris Saint-Germain.

Asked who has been the worst Red Devils signing in 13 years, Neville told The Athletic: ‘Di Maria was a bad one and I was so excited about him, by the way.

‘I thought that was an amazing signing. Can get from box to box, he’s quick, quality and then obviously he just didn’t adapt, didn’t settle. All those reasons. That was a bad one.’

Marouane Fellaini was suggested as a runner in this particular race, but Neville was not having the Belgian in the conversation.

‘Fellaini I’ve no problem with,’ he said. ‘He shouldn’t have signed for the club, but he’s not the worst signing. He gave his all and he was £25m-£30m, it’s not the biggest outlay.’

With expense in mind, Neville eventually landed on his answer to the question, a man who cost £82m and scored 12 goals in 96 games from the right wing.

‘When you’re looking at massive outlays, Antony. This is not a criticism of the boy, it’s reflective of United that he paid that money for him after panicking,’ he said.

‘I would say Antony and Di Maria. I’d have to say Antony.’

Neville sounded optimistic about more recent signings at his former club, hailing the arrivals in the summer of 2025 as successful ones.

‘This season I think [Bryan] Mbeumo, [Matheus] Cunha and [Senne] Lammens look like they’ve settled in. [Benjamin] Sesko looks like he might get there as well,’ said the former England full-back.

‘For me, this is the first time I feel like a recruitment cycle for a manager has worked. I don’t think for 12-13 years any recruitment cycle has worked

‘Only Bruno [Fernandes], for me, has stood out and is worth more than when he came.’

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