‘Six Players Minimum’—David Beckham, Gary Neville Reveal Man Utd Transfer Wishlist | OneFootball

Former Manchester United players David Beckham and Gary Neville have offered their unsolicited opinion as to what their boyhood team should be doing in this summer’s transfer window.

The two retired England internationals came through United’s academy alongside one another before breaking into the first-team at the start of the Premier League era back in the early 1990s. Beckham won six top-flight titles before joining Real Madrid in 2003, while Neville spent his entire career at United, amassing every major trophy available across a glittering 19-year spell.

In his capacity as a pundit for Sky Sports and NBC, Neville is never slow to offer his opinion on United. Beckham is not always so forthcoming with his viewpoint, but Inter Miami’s co-owner provided a refreshingly open appraisal of his former employers in an interview with The Athletic this week.

Beckham warmly praised the under-fire manager Ruben Amorim and insisted that the club should replicate that faith in the transfer market. “I think Ruben definitely needs to be backed in bringing in the players he wants but I actually don’t know how possible it is,” the 50-year-old warned, before drifting towards the topic of which stars should not be sold.

“I’d like to think you wouldn’t have to sell your captain [Bruno Fernandes],” Beckham fretted in light of reports about transfer interest from Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal. “He has been exceptional. We’ve all been critical at times of some United players—but when we needed someone to step up, he has done it.

“I also hate [the idea of] any young player who has grown up at United leaving the club. We shouldn’t be selling players purely for financial reasons.”

Alejandro Garnacho (left) and Kobbie Mainoo both scored in last season’s FA Cup final. / IMAGO/Every Second Media

There have been reports suggesting that homegrown talents such as Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho would be made available for sale should the right offer arrive. As both players spent time in the club’s youth team, any fee would represent ‘pure profit’, which is increasingly important at a time of strict financial regulations being enforced by the Premier League.

“It should be what they are doing on the field and if they’re not performing, there’s always a chance—we all knew that, I knew that,” Beckham continued. “If I wasn’t performing on the pitch, it didn’t matter what I’d done in the past or what I was going to do in the future; there was a good chance that I was either going to get left on the bench, or I was going to get sold.

“I’d like to think that Manchester United don’t sell players that have grown up at the club, understand and love the club. I don’t want to see players leave Manchester United if they care about United like I do.”

Neville also offered his support to Amorim and urged fans to reserve judgement until the middle of next season. “Christmas next year we’ll know a lot more, because I think Ruben needs to get that second transfer window,” the former fullback explained.

“It needs a big overhaul in the summer,” Neville conceded. “Five or six players minimum to be able to change the direction of how he wants to play. There’s at least two forwards, a central midfield player, definitely two wing backs and another centre back. They need six players minimum.”