Gary Neville is uneasy at the prospect of Manchester United selling academy stars.
Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo have been linked with moves away from Manchester United this month, with Ineos unable to rule out the sale of any player due to their financial situation.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been given the difficult task of trying to balance the books at United to ensure the club is meeting FFP and PSR requirements. The financial situation was not helped by two decades of Glazer ownership and multiple bad decisions.
With United having a long tradition of developing youth players for the first-team, fans are bound to be unhappy with the news that Garnacho or Mainoo could leave in the foreseeable future.
Reports suggest Chelsea are interested in Mainoo, but the England international has been involved in talks over a new deal at United.
Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain have been linked with Garnacho, who has also been subjected to a bid from Napoli worth £38m.
Gary Neville wants Alejandro Garnacho to stay
Rumours have done the rounds ever since Ruben Amorim left Garnacho out of the squad for the Manchester derby.
Amorim has outlined what Garnacho needs to do if he wants to have a bright future at Old Trafford.
Unlike Marcus Rashford, who is also linked with an exit, Garnacho has taken the manager’s advice on board to work his way back into the team.
On the recent episode of The Overlap podcast, Gary Neville expressed his views on the prospect of United selling Garnacho and other stars from the academy.
“I don’t like the idea of United selling academy players,” Neville said.
“I didn’t like it when Chelsea were selling their ones when they were in the first-team, I certainly don’t like the idea of United doing it.
“I get it if they’re on the cusp of playing but if they’re actually in the first-team, you can’t…”
Chelsea have sold many talented players from the academy in recent years, including Tino Livramento, Marc Guehi, Fikayo Tomori, Lewis Hall, Conor Gallagher, Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham.
Neville is against the idea of United going down the same path.
Manchester United advised to reject Kobbie Mainoo offers
During the same conversation, Jamie Carragher and Ian Wright expressed their views on the situation.
Carragher believes United should keep Mainoo but should be open to Garnacho’s sale.
“Mainoo you’ve got to keep,” Carragher said. “Mainoo looks to me like he could be a really good player.
“But Garnacho, I don’t know. If you got good money for Garnacho… I think if you got a good offer for him it wouldn’t be the end of the world.”
The former Liverpool defender is less likely to be bothered if United suffer from selling academy gems. Carragher would likely change his tune if the conversation referred to a Liverpool starlet.
Arsenal hero Ian Wright thinks Garnacho would suit the Italian league.
“Garnacho has AC Milan vibes, he’s got those vibes. He’s got that look about him.”
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