As far as Manchester United legend Gary Neville is concerned, there are three ‘non-negotiable’ principles which the fallen giants of the Premier League must always uphold.
Three principles the Red Devils are in danger of slipping even further away from if the current direction of travel under Ruben Amorim cannot be altered and quickly.
Manchester United simply have to win above all else, Gary Neville says. They are certainly not doing much of that these days. Losing to Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final – Ruben Amorim’s team selection came in for criticism as a toothless United dominated possession without drawing blood – ensured a dismal 2024/25 will not even have a trophy with which to paper over the cavernous cracks.
The front-foot, fast-paced football of yesteryear has also gone by the wayside.
Reports suggesting Alejandro Garnacho is destined to depart Man United – at a time when Kobbie Mainoo’s fate is also less than secure – are another dagger into the heart of a former skipper who continues to mourn the demise of a club he loves so fiercely.
Photo by Alberto Gardin/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty ImagesGary Neville prays Manchester United don’t sell Alejandro Garnacho or Kobbie Mainoo
A typically hot-headed Garnacho cast serious doubt on his United future moments after the full-time whistle sounded in Bilbao.
And while boyhood fanatic Kobbie Mainoo would obviously prefer to stay at Old Trafford, this is a decision which could be taken out of his hands with contract talks ongoing.
Especially with that Europa League defeat meaning no Champions League football, and no quick fix for United’s well-publicised financial issues.
“Ruben Amorim is going to stay. Good, that’s fine,” Neville says, starting with the positives. The painfully few positives.
“They are [reportedly] going to give him £100 million [to spend in the summer]. I would ask who is going to have to leave to fund that. There is going to have to be some incoming money, I suspect.
“You [could be] selling Garnacho, you’re selling Mainoo. You’re selling Rashford. McTominay has gone. Maybe they are all the right decisions, those. But I tell you what, there is something fundamentally wrong when you are ripping the heart out of the academy at a football club.
“I used to say three things; Manchester United have to win, they have to play young players from the academy, and they have to play entertaining football. That’s it.
“Those three things are non-negotiables. Win, produce young players, and play entertaining football.”
Scott McTominay and Marcus Rashford have already left Man United
While Garnacho and Mainoo were limited to cameo roles in the Basque country – one year after both scored in that FA Cup final victory over Manchester City – Marcus Rashford has helped put Aston Villa within touching distance of Champions League qualification heading into the final day.
Scott McTominay, meanwhile, has written his name into Napoli folklore alongside such footballing immortals as Diego Maradona.
It is certainly not difficult to imagine 20-year-old Garnacho blossoming into one of Europe’s finest forwards elsewhere – potentially alongside McTominay at Napoli – while Ruben Amorim’s critics will argue that United could have done with Rashford in Bilbao.
If you sell Garnacho and Mainoo… you’ve got rid of McTominay and Rashford, you don’t get rid of your own within 12 months to suit sustainability rules,” an irate Neville adds.
“That is what they’re having to do here. I don’t believe they would be selling these players if it wasn’t for sustainability rules, so that that money goes and deals with the problems they’ve got.
“We are now selling young players to fund the mistakes of the ownership over ten years.”