Gary Neville Names 2 Worst Man Utd Signings Since Sir Alex Left

· GiveMeSport

Gary Neville names the two worst Man Utd signings in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.

Over the years, Gary Neville played with some pretty special footballers. The Manchester United legend won eight Premier League titles and two UEFA Champions League titles, among other notable trophies.

While he was a top-level right-back, his success was boosted by the quality of his teammates. Neville starred alongside some legends of British football , including David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, and many others.

In the years since his 2011 retirement, the club have fallen on hard times. They've won just one Premier League since then, coming in 2013 shortly before Sir Alex Ferguson also left Old Trafford.

As a pundit, Neville has had to comment on many poor footballers failing to make the grade at Man Utd over the past decade or so. Two, however, stood out to him as the worst.

Speaking to The Athletic in September 2026, Neville was asked to name Manchester United's worst signing since Ferguson left the club . He gave two answers, picking first Angel Di Maria:

> "Di Maria was a bad one and I was so excited about him, by the way. I thought that was an amazing signing. Can get from box to box, he's quick, quality and then obviously he just didn't adapt, didn't settle. All those reasons. That was a bad one."

Di Maria arrived at Man Utd with much hype, as Neville alludes to, but the Argentine never really settled in England. He won the Champions League and La Liga with Real Madrid before joining the Red Devils in 2014 for around £60m.

Things started well as he won the club's Player of the Month award for September after recording two goals and two assists in his first four matches for the club, but a hamstring injury disrupted his form, and from October onwards he never looked the same. At the end of the season, he would force a move to Paris Saint-Germain, having scored four goals in 32 games for Man Utd.

Di Maria clearly did not get on well with then-manager Louis van Gaal , later saying: "The worst (manager of his career) is Van Gaal, you can be sure of that. In case you had any doubt, I'll clear that up for you right now."

England fans are never shy when it comes to showing their emotions towards a footballer, whether positive or negative.

Neville also picked Antony as the one other big-name who completely flopped at Old Trafford. He explained:

> "When you're looking at massive outlays, Antony. This is not a criticism of the boy, it's reflective of United that he paid that money for him after panicking."

> "I would say Antony and Di Maria. I'd have to say Antony."

Not many will be surprised to hear Neville chose Antony. The Brazilian cost the Red Devils around £82m but he rarely looked like good value for money.

Funnily enough, like Di Maria, Antony started pretty well in England, becoming the first United player to score in his first three consecutive Premier League games. However, that was as good as it got for the winger. His form soon fell off a cliff, and he would go on to score only 12 goals in 96 games before being loaned out and then eventually sold to Real Betis.

Another interesting similarity with Di Maria, is that both men went on to rediscover themselves at their new clubs. Di Maria would shine for PSG over the next few seasons, lifting five Ligue 1 titles in France and becoming a World Cup winner with Argentina. Antony continues to shine for Betis, with 38 goal contributions in 80 games for the Spanish club, having also made it to the UEFA Conference League final in 2024/25.

That said, there's no denying both men were terrible signings at Old Trafford.

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