Gary Neville is not known for holding his tongue when he has a point to make – even if it puts noses out of joint at his old club Manchester United.
But the England coach, and Sky Sports pundit, has given his backing to the regime of new Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal and has said that he thinks there is a decent chance that the club will delve into the transfer market again in January.
Speaking on Sky Sports the former Manchester United idol said:
in terms of small steps at a time, the ambition this season was to get back into the Champions League and they’re on track for that.
And when pressed about the idea of Manchester United making further additions to the squad in a historically difficult time for business, Neville said:
“It wouldn’t surprise me if United strengthened in January,”
“I think all the noise from Van Gaal and the club in the last few months is that business isn’t finished and they’ve not completed the rebuilding yet.
“I think when you look at defensive and midfield areas; they are really the main areas you would look at, at this moment in time. But I think United will strengthen in the transfer market if they can do business.
Clubs aren’t adverse to the odd smoke screen if it helps their chances of success or manages expectations. But we feel that Ed Woodward gave a pretty honest appraisal of where Manchester United are at and how likely they are to spend in the next window when he said, towards the end of 2014:
“We are not looking to enter the market for short-term fixes,”
“However, we have targets we are looking at for next summer.
“Should any of them become available in January, which is obviously rare, we will consider acting. But it is a low probability.”
Manchester United are at a crucial juncture in their history and buying short term solutions isn’t gong to stand the club in great stead for the big challenges ahead. It’s much more likely that they will wait for top targets such as Hummels and Strootman to become available. If they can do such deals in January then they will press ahead at full steam and with huge wads of cash. But don’t expect quick fixes this winter.
