Paul Merson believes that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos missed a trick by not bringing two Manchester United legends back to Old Trafford for the recruitment department.
Ineos took control of football operations at Manchester United after Sir Jim Ratcliffe captured a minority stake in the Premier League club in 2023.
United have seen sweeping changes behind the scenes at Old Trafford under Ratcliffe and Ineos, including Omar Berrada becoming chief executive officer.
Another major change for United came with the appointment of Dan Ashworth, who left Newcastle and became sporting director at the Premier League club.
United strengthened significantly in the first summer transfer window under Ineos, with Erik ten Hag seeing the arrival of several new signings for his first-team squad.
Netherlands striker Joshua Zirkzee and French defender Leny Yoro arrived at Old Trafford in July from Serie A side Bologna and Ligue 1 outfit Lille respectively.
United boss Erik ten Hag was also reunited with two more former Ajax players after Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui were signed from Bayern Munich in August.
Ineos completed a busy summer transfer window with the signing of Uruguay midfielder Manuel Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain on deadline day.
Merson critical of Man Utd star
Speaking to Sky Sports, Paul Merson pulled no punches towards Manchester United’s poor transfer business in the past and singled out Antony as the prime example.
Antony played under Erik ten Hag at Ajax before United dropped an eye-watering initial fee of £82m to bring the Brazilian winger to Old Trafford in 2022.
The 24-year-old former Ajax star has struggled to impress at United and has fallen down the pecking order at Old Trafford under Ten Hag.
“There must have been a plan at the start of the season,” Merson said, as per the Metro.
“Maybe they’re looking at it like a five-year project. United aren’t going to catch [Manchester] City and Arsenal in a year, so they have to be patient.
“It’s going to take time, United need to start walking again, never mind running.
“The one thing that worries me is who has come into that club and looks like a success? I mean, Antony was £80m.
“Have you picked yourself up yet or have you fallen over? I thought you’d fall over when I said Antony was £80m! That just sums it all up.”
Merson on two Man Utd legends and recruitment
Merson remained deeply critical of the signing of Antony and was baffled by who “sanctioned” the move for the underperforming United star.
The 56-year-old Sky Sports pundit insisted that United legends Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand should have been brought back to Old Trafford to help with recruitment.
“I just don’t know what they’ve done with some of these transfers. I would have put someone like Gary Neville in charge of the recruitment,” he said.
“Gary has been at that club all his career, and he knows football from the inside out. You put someone like him in charge, even Rio Ferdinand, someone like that or even both of them together, and you go, ‘Right, we want to build this club – what players should we be bringing in?’
“But the players that have come in… £80m for Antony, who sanctioned that?! I don’t want to be horrible but I watched him in Holland. He goes down the wing and he cuts inside, he did it every week in Holland.
“In the Premier League, almost every single full-back is an international player and they work you out. £80m, you can’t even swallow that and get £40m for him because you won’t even get that.”
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