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Man United legend Gary Neville has blasted Christian Purslow after Liverpool’s former Managing Director suggested that Manchester United may never return to the Champions League if they have not qualified by the end of next season. However, Man United and their players have suggested that the club can still attract the best players.
Manchester United are facing a big ask to be involved in next season’s premier European competition, currently sitting in seventh with 11 points separating them from fourth-placed Liverpool, with just 12 games remaining.
But Neville does not believe the end is nigh for United as a force both at home and abroad should their current travails not ease, calling Purslow a ‘clueless fool’ for daring to think otherwise.
Purslow had claimed that the influx of BT Sport money could have a major effect on life at Old Trafford if they fell too far behind the top clubs and weren’t involved in Champions League football.
The former Liverpool man said, “Next year, when the BT Sport deal kicks in, that figure (prize money for teams in the Champions League) will probably double.
“Look at the team who that will most affect – Manchester United – they don’t look like they’re going to be there this year, but it gives (David) Moyes and (Edward) Woodward a year to get their act together.
“One year, they can live with a £30million disadvantage. In another year, if they miss out, they may never get back.
“They now need to invest huge amounts of money. They need around £150-200m worth of talent, that’s five or six £25m players.”
Neville was quick with his rebuke of Purslow and given the latter’s reputation being in tatters at Anfield after a series of poor moves in the transfer market, it appears to be a rare occasion in which United and Liverpool fans are in agreement over an assessment of a man.
