Gary Neville praises Chelsea double deal as he shakes head at Man Utd call | OneFootball

Gary Neville has praised the decision from Chelsea to sign to new players, while blasting a previous Manchester United decision which has become a clear mistake.

New Blues manager Xabi Alonso has taken a different approach to signings than some predecessors. The blueprint under Todd Boehly so far has been to sign young players who can contribute both now and in the future.

Alonso is landing a pair of very experienced players, though. Reports indicate that Jordan Henderson, 36, has agreed to tear up his Brentford deal in order to join Chelsea, while there’s a deal in place for 35-year-old striker Danny Welbeck.

Neville, speaking to Sky Sports, has suggested the experience of the pair could be invaluable.

He said: “It’s a big shift. It’s one we’ve all been asking for. If you’ve watched Chelsea over the last three, four or five years, I’ve said there’s inexperience right throughout the club, right from the ownership to the sporting department to the managers.

“So what you’ve got is a situation whereby there’s just no experience.

“I think by putting a spine in of good senior professionals that act as guardians of good behaviours, responsibilities, disciplines in the dressing room, it’s not magic, it’s something that all top teams have had for many, many decades.

“So putting in Jordan Henderson, who knows how to win a Premier League title, Danny Welbeck, who knows how to win a Premier League title… their job is as much off the pitch as it is on the pitch.

“They’re still good players, they can contribute maybe 25 to 35 games a season at a good level.

“But what they will do is all those young players there at Chelsea, they will make sure they turn up every single day, give their all, come back the same the next day and do it again.

“That’s been a problem. I don’t think the young players at Chelsea have had any particular guidance or leadership around them either on the pitch or off the pitch.

“They’ve now got people around them who can do that and know how to get around the block.”

Man Utd selling Welbeck was a mistake

Welbeck was sold by Neville’s former club United to Arsenal in 2014, before heading to Watford and then Brighton, where he’s spent the last six years, scoring 51 goals, prior to his move to Chelsea.

Neville felt the decision from United to sell him was wrong and Welbeck has shown that in recent years.

He said: “I said ten [12] years ago that Manchester United should never have sold Danny Welbeck. He’s gone away and done brilliantly well.

“He’s coming into a little cameo at the end of his career but he’s a fantastic player.

“I worked with him obviously as a team-mate, I worked with him with England as a coach and he was fantastic for England. And he’s been good in the Premier League as well.

“It’s a good move for Chelsea and it gives them a real option up front.”