Gary Neville explains why he wants Ryan Gravenberch at United | OneFootball

Manchester United legend Gary Neville has named Ryan Gravenberch as the only Liverpool player he would bring to Old Trafford at the moment. The Dutch midfielder moved to Anfield from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2023 and has since become a mainstay for the Merseyside club.

The Red Devils, meanwhile, are in the market for midfield reinforcements this summer after bidding farewell to Casemiro. The Brazilian played a key role in the team’s third-placed finish in the Premier League table last season, but left as a free agent at the end of the campaign.

The English giants are looking for a suitable candidate to fill his boots and have already secured the services of Chelsea’s Andrey Santos. However, with Manuel Ugarte set to be sidelined for a while with an ACL injury, INEOS remain in the market for further reinforcements.

United remain linked with several Premier League-proven midfielders, including Aston Villa’s Youri Tielemans. Neville has now hinted that a raid for Gravenberch may not be such a bad idea either.

Neville wants Gravenberch at United

In a Q&A with The Overlap, Neville opted for Gravenberch when asked to name a Liverpool player he would like to sign for United. He said: “There’s a few but it’s harder because Wirtz isn’t exactly jumping out at me, Isak isn’t jumping out at me, Ekitike yeah, Dominik Szoboszlai maybe…”

“I’d go with Gravenberch. If you said to me, “United, now, who would I take?”, I’d take Gravenberch probably. He’s the best of the three midfielders that United would need and we need a midfielder desperately.”

Ryan Gravenberch Stats: 2025/26 Season

Source: Transfermarkt.

The Dutchman is under contract at Anfield until 2032, so prising him away is next to impossible. However, one has to admit that the player would be a fine addition to Michael Carrick’s squad.

Neville confident about United’s attack

Neville went on to acknowledge that Liverpool have good forwards in their squad, but insisted that they are not better than the options available to United. He said: “The [Liverpool] forwards are good but I wouldn’t probably swap them over Mbeumo, Cunha, Bruno, Amad… I don’t think I’d be jumping at taking any of them.”

“I think they’ve got potential to go and do brilliant things but they’ve not proved it yet so I’d go with Gravenberch.”

United spent heavily on Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko last summer, and the trio vastly improved the attack. The Red Devils ended the campaign with 69 Premier League goals, the third most in the league after Arsenal (71) and Manchester City (77).

Nevertheless, attacking reinforcements cannot be entirely ruled out this summer, with recent reports suggesting that INEOS have their eyes on Harry Kane.

Final Thoughts

While Gravenberch may be off limits for United at the moment, there is no denying that they need to invest wisely in the middle of the park before the start of the new season. The upcoming season is likely to hinge on INEOS’ ability to find the ideal midfield partner for Kobbie Mainoo.

Featured image Francois Nel via Getty Images

online polls

The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social