Gary Neville Says Manchester United Can Still Compete for Top Transfer Talent

Gary Neville does not believe Matthijs de Ligt's reportedly imminent move to Barcelona over Manchester United is an indication the Red Devils can no longer attract the world's best talent.

The former United full-back and current Sky Sports pundit noted that, even when the Manchester giants were one of the best teams in the world under Sir Alex Ferguson, they still sometimes missed out on signing key targets, per James Robson in the Evening Standard:

"The money in the game now means you're always in competition. The club has lost players when it was successful to Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. We lost [Arjen] Robben to Chelsea in the mid 2000s, we lost [Samir] Nasri to [Manchester] City. Don't always think that when Sir Alex Ferguson was here it didn't happen. 

"This club lost players when it was successful to some of the biggest clubs in Europe that are competing with United. Don't think that if United lose players now to Barcelona that this is the first time it's ever happened, it's happened before. It's not because of the current plight, or the coach, or the manager, or the current players it just happens sometimes. It happened during successful times too.

"I think United can still attract top end players because we've seen good players come to the club over the last six or seven years. This club will never move away from being a sensational football club, it will have difficult moments. And, it's having a difficult time."

De Ligt, 19, emerged as a future superstar in 2018-19 as he captained Ajax to a league and cup double in the Netherlands and progressed to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

He is a remarkably talented centre-back, a position United desperately need to improve:

Barcelona have long looked favourites to sign him, having already secured the signature of his Ajax team-mate Frenkie de Jong.

United emerged as late contenders for De Ligt, but Sky Sports News reported on Sunday that they are resigned to him moving to the Camp Nou.

As far as De Ligt is concerned, though, nothing is decided, as he has to play in the UEFA Nations League for the Netherlands before choosing a club:

Ronald Koeman's Dutch outfit meet England in the Nations League semi-finals in Portugal on June 6, and victory would see them play either Portugal or Switzerland in the tournament's inaugural final on June 9.

De Ligt has already made himself a key part of the Dutch national team since making his debut aged 17 in March 2017; he now has 15 caps for his country.

He played every minute of the group stage in the Nations League as the Netherlands topped Group A1 ahead of France and Germany.