Gary Neville backs Rúben Amorim to copy Sir Alex Ferguson by dumping £350k p/w Manchester United duo

Gary Neville has backed Rúben Amorim to copy Sir Alex Ferguson by axing a prominent Manchester United duo during his opening months at the club.

Manchester United have entered the 2025 January transfer window during a difficult spell, following four straight defeats in the Premier League and Carabao Cup before the turn of the year.

A spirited 2-2 draw with league leaders Liverpool and a dramatic FA Cup penalty shootout win over Arsenal have provided a much-needed morale boost in early 2025, easing some of the pressure on the squad.

Rúben Amorim faces the challenge of strengthening key areas, including left-back, centre-back, striker, and midfield, but financial restrictions stemming from heavy spending under Erik ten Hag have made recruitment difficult.

To navigate these challenges, United are prioritising player departures in January and the summer to raise funds and position themselves for a vital rebuild.

Neville backs Amorim to axe United duo

Two of the players who have been most prominently linked with moves away from the club this month are Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford, who are on a combined £350,000 a week before bonuses.

Rashford has been continually linked with a potential loan move to AC Milan after being dropped from six of United’s last seven matchday squads. At the same time, Garnacho has been subject to intense interest from Antonio Conte’s Napoli.

Speaking recently, former United captain Gary Neville has spoken on the duo, explaining that he is backing Amorim to be the man behind the big potential sales of both Rashford and Garnacho.

“It’s been in the news in the last 24 hours that bids are coming in for Garnacho. There’s been news stories about Rashford going on loan or to another club, it genuinely wouldn’t surprise me if Ruben Amorim made these big types of calls,” Neville said on The Overlap US podcast.

“I don’t think he’s got anything to lose. We’ve seen it all over, ten years, whereby these talented players who haven’t delivered on a consistent basis that will not get Manchester United to the top.”

Amorim would be copying Sir Alex Ferguson

Speaking further, Neville explained that should both transfers happen, Amorim would be making a similar move that legendary boss Sir Alex Ferguson made during the early years of his Old Trafford tenure.

Read More: Manager shuts down Manchester United transfer rumour for Premier League star Rúben Amorim “is tracking”

Sir Alex is known for never being afraid to sell big-name and important players if he felt that they had become a detriment to his squad.

“If you think about what Sir Alex Ferguson did over many, many years. Sometimes some of the major fallouts were with the big players but that was for him to wrestle control,” Neville continued.

“Norman Whiteside and Paul McGrath were let go in his early days and, beyond that, Jaap Stam leaving, David Beckham left and Roy Keane left and Ruud Van Nistelrooy left. Massive players that you thought ‘these are big players, they can’t leave’.

“He did it to wrestle control whether you liked it or didn’t like it, agreed with it or didn’t agree with it.”

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