Manchester United legend Gary Neville has urged club chiefs to “serve” head coach Ruben Amorim with “five” summer signings “straight away”.

The Red Devils played a goalless draw against local rivals Man City on Sunday afternoon as the two sides could not be separated in a dull affair.

Man Utd are enduring a nightmare season as they have spent most of the 2024/25 campaign in the bottom half of the Premier League.

United have gradually improved under Amorim, but their squad is not suited to his preferred 3-5-2 formation and a huge overhaul is required this summer.

Neville claims Man Utd require at least “five” new signings with the “three up front and two wing-backs not good enough”.

“From a United perspective, I get why he’s gone back into a low block. But that’s what we’ve seen from Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik Ten Hag,” Neville said on Sky Sports.

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“They’ve all come in with the intention of playing high-press, high-energy football, but all end up going back to a low block in big games.

“I do understand why Ruben Amorim’s done that today, with the players he’s got, because he hasn’t got the players to adapt.

“They need five new players straight away before you even think about the rest of it.

“The three up front are not good enough and the two wing-backs, they’re not good enough. They need five players.

“They need to serve him with five players who are good enough in this system to be able to play his system the way he wants.”

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Before kick-off, Neville suggested four former Red Devils “would do a lot better” than their current players.

“No Manchester United manager since Sir Alex Ferguson, other than Louis van Gaal, has been able to dominate games with possession. That’s a real problem,” Neville added.

“The players up front are just not of the quality required at the club. That sounds really harsh but it’s the truth.

“It’s going to need smart recruitment, that means getting players out for good prices and getting players in who are undervalued – which is what all teams are trying to do in the league!

“You could field four players that are not at Manchester United anymore – Anthony Elanga, Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck and Scott McTominay behind them – they would do a lot better than the current players as a four up front.

“United have let players go – and I’m not saying they’re the solution right now. But they’ve replaced players who weren’t at the standard, with players who are not at that level.”

Man City boss Pep Guardiola has hit out at Man Utd fans over chants about Phil Foden’s mum as the Red Devils drew 0-0 against the Citizens on Sunday.

It was not a Manchester Derby classic as both sides struggled to entertain on Sunday in a boring draw at Old Trafford.

Guardiola replaced Foden on 58 minutes, who was one of a number of players in the match who underperformed as both sides seemed fairly happy with a draw.

Foden was booed off the pitch by the Man Utd supporters after some fans at Old Trafford had resorted to vile chants about the Man City star’s mum.

A section of the Man Utd fans chanted ‘Phil Foden, your mum is a s***’ and Guardiola insisted those fans should be “ashamed” as he addressed the disgusting taunts after the match.

When asked about the chants in his post-match press conference, Man City boss Guardiola said: “Lack of class, but is not United it is the people.

“We are so exposed… managers, owners, football players especially. I do not understand the mind of the people involving the mum of Phil.

“Lack of integrity, class and they should be ashamed. But it is what it is, it happens everywhere not just in UK.”

Reflecting on the point away at Man Utd, Guardiola added: “It’s what it is. Of course it would be better to win. Old Trafford is Old Trafford. You always need a good performance to win.

“We tried to make a good build-up, get crosses really well and tried to control the situations. They can run and they were dangerous but always we had our chances.

“In the second half in the first 10 or 15 mins it was our best moment.

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“The last three games I saw many good things, in the last two games and today and the passion when we lose the ball that we lost many times this season for many reasons.

“But with the ball always our strength will be with the position and we lost that today. We were not in the right position to hurt them.

“We have to be in one tempo and be in the right position. But we could not accelerate it because we were not in the right position, that’s why we missed a little bit our tempo to create more chances.

“Of course, Phil had one chance, two or two shots from Kevin and one from Omar. They had chances from transitions but I think it’s fair enough.

“We take the point and we move forward.”

Man City have an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest to look forward to, as well as the final seven Premier League matches with the Citizens looking to qualify for the Champions League.

Commenting on the run-in, Guardiola continued: “Crystal Palace and go for it.

“I would prefer to have 10 or 12 more points. Previous seasons with five or six games we were already there but it is what it is.

“I’m concerned about recovering, Crystal Palace and Everton, FA Cup semi-final with Nottingham Forest. All the games ahead of us.

“Win, win, win and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

According to reports, Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim had two priority transfers “in mind” when admitting he wants two “big” signings this summer.

A huge overhaul is required at Man Utd this summer as they are languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League and their squad is not suited to head coach Ruben Amorim’s system.

The Red Devils were held to a dull 0-0 draw against arch-rivals Man City on Sunday afternoon as their attacking woes continued. They are 16th in our open play goals Premier League table.

It has been widely speculated that United need to offload sellable assets to raise funds for summer signings. Ahead of Sunday’s stalemate, Amorim revealed he wants to “bring in one or two big players” this summer.

“Not just City but other teams, they are already in a place that we need a lot to catch them and they will improve again next season,” Amorim said.

READ: 16 Conclusions on Man Utd 0-0 Man City: Fernandes brilliant, Garnacho poor, Guardiola shows ‘lack of class’

“I just want to focus on our strengths and bring one or two players, big players.

“We need to focus, we are doing all the stuff to be next season so much better.

“In my idea, I cannot manage this thing of ‘in four years we will try something’. We need to be so much better. This is a massive club.”

He added: “I shouldn’t say that, big players is like different things.

“It’s characteristics that we don’t have in our squad, trying to see the gaps, when I say big players I’m not saying from Real Madrid etcetera, it’s big players in the way I see the game.”

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The Athletic‘s Laurie Whitwell has broken down Amorim’s comments and revealed the two positions he has “in mind” to strengthen this summer.

“Sirens rang when Amorim cited a desire for “big players” to join United in the summer, but when answering a follow-up question he clarified he meant in terms of impact on his team rather than star signings from Real Madrid, such as say Casemiro or Raphael Varane,” Whitwell told The Athletic.

“Amorim needs recruits who can cause a significant uplift in his side, specific to positions where there isn’t quite the right fit. In that sense, Patrick Dorgu could be classed as a “big player” given his suitability to the wing-back role so crucial to Amorim’s system.

“It seems inevitable Amorim had striker in mind as he spoke, given United’s struggles in front of goal, while an athletic midfielder is also on the agenda, especially with Christian Eriksen’s departure in the summer when his contract expires.

“It is notable Amorim only said “one or two” when talking on this basis — presumably he wants more but perhaps some will be squad signings. He appeared to be saying he needs a couple to mark a major, immediate shift to the level of his starting XI.”

Rio Ferdinand has revealed that he told his former club Manchester United to sign Declan Rice “at all costs” before Arsenal landed him from West Ham.

Rice made 245 appearances for the Hammers before Arsenal secured his signing for £100m despite a late hijack attempt by Manchester City.

Both Chelsea and United had been heavily linked with the England international before the summer of 2023, when the Red Devils instead spent around £200m on Rasmus Hojlund, Mason Mount and Andre Onana.

None of that trio have lived up to expectations at Old Trafford and Ferdinand would much rather his former side had signed Rice, revealing they ignored his advice before the Gunners got the deal done.

“Declan Rice didn’t make a choice [between Manchester United and Arsenal,” Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel. “Man United didn’t bid for him.

“United f****d that s*** up. They f****d that one up because I wanted Declan and I advised a couple of people there to get Declan at all costs.

“And they didn’t even bid. They didn’t even bid. He’s the man, I love him. I would have taken him.”

Rice has cemented his standing as one of the Premier League’s best midfielders since joining Arsenal, helping them to second last season and likely again this term, with Champions League glory remaining a possibility with the first leg of their quarter-final against Real Madrid to come on Tuesday.

United’s season stands in stark contrast, with Ruben Amorim’s side sitting 13th in the Premier League having lost 13 of their 31 games this season.

And although they too still have hope of silverware as they face Lyon in the Europa League quarter-final, Amorim wants a squad overhaul in this summer in a bid to have a squad at his disposal better suited to his philosophy and system.

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A striker is thought to be high on his list of priorities having been unconvinced by both Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee, and Ferdinand insists the Red Devils should be targeting Victor Osimhen, who’s currently on loan from Napoli at Galatasaray and available for a permanent transfer this summer.

Ferdinand added: “We need Osimhen. We need experience. We need someone who knows how to score. We need someone who can come and show these young strikers at Manchester United how to do it.

“If I’m Man United, I’m making it happen. I want someone who knows their way around the football pitch at the elite level, and knows how to score at the elite level consistently. Osimhen’s done that.

“I want the here and now. Yes, Osimhen hasn’t played in the Premier League, but I don’t care.”

Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana has hit the headlines today for courageously claiming his side is “way better” than Europa League opponents Lyon.

United’s campaign rests squarely on the outcome of their two-legged Europa League tie with the Ligue 1 side, with success in Europe their only route to European football next season.

Cameroonian stopper Onana cut a confident figure as he spoke to the press after Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Man City, backing United to make light work of the tie if they’re at their best.

“We all know the importance of this game, so we will go there with a winning mentality,” Onana said.

“It’s not our best season, but we still have something big to win, so we will go for it.

“It’s a very good team; we know some of them, but I don’t think we have to focus about them. It’s more about us, what we’re going to do.

“I think we are better than them, we just have to go there and show who we are.

“If we go there with a winning mentality and we are focused, we stay compact together and we follow the game plan, we will be winning the game.

“Of course, it’s not going to be easy, but I think we are way better than them.”

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Not only is it a bold claim, given United’s struggles away from home this season, but it raised some eyebrows coming from a player whose high-profile mistakes were a major reason for United’s early exit from the Champions League last season.

Onana has come increasingly under fire for mistakes through all competitions, with 10 errors leading to goals attributed to him across the past two seasons.

For comparison, his predecessor and now rumoured replacement, David de Gea, made 17 errors across 12 seasons.

He was also quick to praise his side for their level of performance in the Manchester derby stalemate, which to the untrained eye looked like a terrible watch that highlighted the problems both sides are facing.

“Well, it’s two sides because we had a good game, we were in control, we had our moments, we had a lot of chances, we didn’t score, unfortunately,” Onana said.

“But drawing the way we did today in front of our fans is always a big disappointment. When you play such a big game like this, you always want to win.

“But today I’m just positive because we had a good game, and it will be an extra motivation for the coming game on Thursday.

“Of course you feel the pressure because you’re playing for Manchester United.”

The pressure will certainly be on when United travel to the Groupama Stadium on Thursday, with Onana’s comments handing extra motivation to a Lyon side in fine form.