Manchester United's January transfer failings are now coming back to haunt them, believes Old Trafford great Gary Neville.
Erik ten Hag's side were comfortably beaten 2-0 by Newcastle United on Sunday to drop to fourth in the Premier League table. It means United have work to do to secure a Champions League spot for next season, as their woeful away record against the top flight's best sides continued.
United produced an insipid display at St James' Park with the visitors second best throughout. And Neville believes the failure to sign a top striker is the primary reason behind the club's recent poor form.
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United did bring in Wout Weghorst from Burnley, as well as Jack Butland from Crystal Palace and Marcel Sabitzer from Bayern Munich, all on loan in January. But Weghorst has yet to score in the Premier League and was anonymous against Newcastle. The mid-season departure of Cristiano Ronaldo left a void in the attacking department that hasn't been filled, something ten Hag will surely rectify in the summer.
United's lack of a top level centre forward has been laid bare in recent weeks and Neville says blame sits with the owners. The club didn't sanction a permanent signing in January due to the financial situation at Old Trafford, hampering ten Hag's attempts to move his squad forward.
Neville said: "He was badly let down in January, Erik ten Hag, if you look at it because that Ronaldo interview that was done with Piers Morgan I think was done in November? And he was always going to leave at the start of the World Cup, so he left at the start of the World Cup.
"Manchester United then had six weeks before the transfer window began and they made a conscious decision not to give Erik ten Hag the money - because they haven’t got the money. They made a conscious decision to say you have to bring in someone on loan and he was left then, to be fair, with options - who’s going to loan Manchester United a world class striker in January? No one’s going to do that, so they ended up with Weghorst.
"I don’t blame Weghorst at all, I think he’s done a really good job, he’s a placeholder for Manchester United and Erik ten Hag and he’s doing everything he can possibly do out there on the pitch. He obviously isn’t good enough to be a Manchester United number nine and a striker, but Erik ten Hag was doing really well for the Manchester United players and they needed supporting in January with a top-class striker.
"They lost Ronaldo, they lost (Edinson) Cavani last summer, (Antony) Martial was injured - you cannot play without a centre forward. To play football really well your centre forward has to play really well and your goalkeeper - it’s just a rule - and he (Weghorst) doesn’t always play well so for me,. Ten Hag was let down badly in January by the club in the sense that they've obviously got £900million worth of debt and they couldn’t afford to bring in anybody else. That’s the harsh reality of it."
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