Man Utd icon urges INEOS, Liverpool to follow Arsenal’s lead and avoid transfer mistake | OneFootball

Gary Neville has hinted that Manchester United and Liverpool should take a leaf out of Arsenal’s book when it comes to their summer transfer window.

As Michael Carrick embarks upon his first season in charge as Man Utd‘s permanent manager, INEOS have spent just over £150million on midfielders Carlos Baleba, Youri Tielemans, and Andrey Santos – as well as backup goalkeeper Karl Darlow.

For new Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola, FSG have recruited defenders Jeremy Jacquet and loan signing Ronald Araujo; winger Victor Munoz looks a promising addition, and fellow wideman Bradley Barcola is set to join for a whopping £120m.

However, Neville thinks that Man Utd need a new centre-back and a left-back, particularly as they have tried and failed to sign Newcastle United’s Lewis Hall for much of the summer and Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt have been quite injury-prone.

And for Liverpool, their midfield seems to be an area of concern, while former England international Neville has doubts about the defensive capabilities of full-backs Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong.

Conversely, Arsenal have spent big on midfielder Bruno Guimaraes, have shored up their defence even more with the permanent deals of Ezri Konsa and Piero Hincapie, and winger Christos Tzolis is looking lively, too.

They are also chasing Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez and even if they don’t get him, Neville thinks Arsenal are not exactly standing still as they try and defend their Premier League title.

“In a perfect world, if you’d said to Michael Carrick, ‘what would you have done this summer?’ he would have said, ‘rebuild the midfield, and I would rebuild the defence’,” Neville told Sky Sports.

“But, to be fair, last season, they’ve spent, whatever it is, £170m on attackers. They’ve spent £150m this year on midfielders. They’re doing it piece by piece. That might be the sensible thing to do, to not overhaul everything at once.

“They have got some individually decent defenders, but there isn’t a back four there and when it starts to get put under pressure and it starts to pick up a couple of injuries during the season, it will let you down. Michael knows that right now.

“If they could get a centre-back and a full-back before the window closes, that will stop problems that we know we’re going to see.

“I’m not saying they’ve been bad all the time, but you just know full well, in Champions League football, Premier League games, they will have problems and they will have issues. It’s not being harsh. Everybody knows it.

“I’m amazed that United haven’t added at the back. I’m amazed that Liverpool haven’t added two full-backs because they need two full-backs.

“Arsenal are strengthening when they’re absolutely at the top. Manchester United and Liverpool aren’t in that position. So I’m surprised at the windows these two great clubs have had.”

With two days to go until the window shuts, it is up in the air whether or not Man Utd and Liverpool will get the signings they need for the season ahead.