Gary Neville calls for Man Utd to SACK Ed Woodward for transfer failings and ‘second-highest wage bill in world’
GARY NEVILLE has called for Manchester United to sack Ed Woodward over his failings in the transfer market.
The Old Trafford legend also pointed to the club having the "second highest wage bill in the world" and said the final product on the pitch does not match the investment.
Uefa figures released last week actually show the Manchester giants had the fourth highest wage bill in Europe for the 2018 financial year (the latest available figures).
But they are still the Premier League's biggest payers as they are ranked only behind Barcelona, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain in the list.
Alexis Sanchez was given a whopping £505k-a-week contract during Woodward's reign and was a monumental flop before being farmed out to Inter Milan.
And Fred - whose form has improved slightly in recent times - is still generally considered a disappointing signing after he was handed a £120k-a-week package.
United put in a gallant performance at Liverpool on Sunday but still fell to a 2-0 defeat thanks to a goal from Virgil van Dijk early on and a Mo Salah effort at the death.
The Red Devils sit fifth in the Premier League and face another season without Champions League football unless results improve under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
But Neville - who played alongside the Norwegian at Old Trafford - thinks the blame lies at Woodward's door.
The Red Devils have shelled out approximately £850million on players since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013 but Neville thinks it is hard to tell if you look at what is being produced on the pitch.
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Speaking on the Gary Neville podcast, he said: "I can’t change the ownership of United, no one can.
"I’m struggling to understand why the ownership have persisted in trusting that management team to oversee the building of a Premier League title winning team since Sir Alex left.
"I saw a statistic two weeks ago that United have the second-highest wage bill in the world.
"And that’s the squad they’ve got. It’s unforgivable. It really is.
"I can’t believe the investment that’s been put into the squad in the last five, six, seven years and you end up with that out on the pitch.
“If you don’t lose your job for essentially overseeing that investment, that wage bill, and putting that team out on the pitch then I have to say something is really wrong.
“There’s real talent in that executive team ... but in terms of what the club needed to do for a number of years now is put the best in class football operators into that club, and they’re not doing it.
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"They’re not doing it and it’s a mess.”
Neville was spotted slamming his fist into the desk in the commentary booth when Anthony Martial missed a golden opportunity to level the game at Anfield.
And he also recently warned Harry Maguire "the s*** will come thick and fast" after the centre-back was named permanent United captain after Ashley Young joined Inter Milan.
